Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the Orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots. It is currently believed to be the second largest family of flowering plants (only the Asteraceae is larger), with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species, found in 880 genera. The number of orchid species equals more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species. It also encompasses about 6–11% of all seed plants. The largest genera are Bulbophyllum (2,000 species), Epidendrum (1,500 species), Dendrobium (1,400 species) and Pleurothallis (1,000 species).
The family also includes Vanilla (the genus of the vanilla plant), Orchis (type genus) and many commonly cultivated plants like some Phalaenopsis or Cattleya. Moreover, since the introduction of tropical species in the 19th century, horticulturists have produced more than 100,000 hybrids and cultivars.
5 stamps depicting different Orchids issued for the Singapore International Stamp Exhibition in 1995. Featured are the Bee Orchid, the Brown Bee Orchid, the Pyramidal Orchid, the Mirror Orchid and the Sawfly Orchid on September 01, 1995.The Singapore Exhibtion was a world expo and a major event in the philatelic calendar.
The Gibraltar Philatelic Bureau has collaborated with the San Marino Philatelic Bureau to issue a historic joint stamp featured geographical and man-made similarities between both countries. They issued a miniature sheet respectively and depicted the limestone Rock of Gibraltar and ‘Mount Titano’ in San Marino as one comparison and the medieval ‘Moorish Castle’ in Gibraltar and the ‘Second Tower’ in San Marino.
The Vatican City and Gibraltar commemorated the 700 years of devotion to our Lady of Europe on the Rock. The set of stamps featured the priceless, hand-carved ancient statue that resides in the Shrine of Our Lady of Europe pictured here. The background of miniature sheet are the Gibraltar Rock and The Vatican City. The stamps have issued on 2009.
Gibraltar Post Office and Malta Post Office joint issued the stamps depicted the artillery piece (canon). The stamps are combined in one souvenir sheet.
