Aquatic blooms of the lotus flower flourish on Canadian stamps March 1

By Jay Bigalke

On March 1, Canada Post is issuing nondenominated (85¢) Lotus permanent stamps with two different designs, in a self-adhesive booklet of 10, a self-adhesive coil of 50 and a souvenir sheet of two. The two designs are se-tenant (side by side).

The Lotus stamps continue Canada Post’s Spring Flowers series.

As in past years, a set of two nondenominated international rate postal cards with the new stamp designs will likely be issued, but this was not confirmed by Canada Post.

The Lotus stamps were designed by Parcel Design of Toronto based on watercolors by Eunike Nugroho, a botanical artist from Indonesia.

The stamps depict the sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) and the American lotus (Nelumbo lutea), respectively.

The sacred lotus with its delicate pink and white petals was adopted as the national flower of India in 1950 and has deep religious significance for Buddhists and Hindus.

This aquatic perennial is native to Asia and northern Australia, but is also cultivated in North America.

Canada Post described the American lotus as having a  creamy yellow flower that needs warmth and sunshine. Its habitat in Canada is the “northern limit along the shores of lakes Erie and St. Clair in southern Ontario.”

This flower also occurs throughout most of the eastern half of the United States, as well as California, and as far south as Honduras.

Both the sacred and the American lotus are edible and also have been used for medicinal purposes.

Each set in Canada Post’s Spring Flowers series has been issued both in a self-adhesive booklet and in a perforated souvenir sheet.

The first set from 2002 consists of 48¢ Tulips stamps in four designs (Scott 1946-1947). These were followed by the 2005 50¢ Daffodils (Scott 2091-2093), the 2007 52¢ Lilacs (2206-2208), the 2008 52¢ Peonies (2260-2262), and the 2009 54¢ Rhododendrons (2318-2320).

Since 2010, the Spring Flowers issues have been created as nondenominated permanent stamps: the 2010 (57¢) African Violets (Scott 2376-2378), the 2011 (59¢) Sunflowers (2440-2444), the 2012 (61¢) Daylilies (2526-2530), the 2013 (63¢) Magnolias (2621-2625), 2014 (85¢) Hybrid Tea Roses (2727-2731), 2015 (85¢) Pansies (2810-2813), 2016 (85¢) Hydrangeas (2896-2900), and 2017 (85¢) Daisies (2976-80).

The new Lotus stamps were printed by Lowe-Martin. Additional information on the print quantities or specific order numbers was unavailable at press time, but will be included in a future issue of Linn’s.

Canada Post will service official first-day covers franked with both of the booklet stamps. The FDC will bear a postmark from Waterdown, Ontario.

These stamps and related items are available here. Stamps and FDCs are available by mail order from Canada Post Customer Service, Box 90022, 2701 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON K1V 1J8 Canada; or by telephone from the United States or Canada at 800-565-4362, and from other countries at 902-863-6550.

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Canada’s stamps and stamp products also are available from many new-issue stamp dealers, and from Canada Post’s agent in the United States: Interpost, Box 420, Hewlett, NY 11557.