Native orchids - Germany / German Democratic Republic 1976 - 20 Pfennig

Native Orchids The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the German Democratic Republic publishes six multi-colored special postal stamps depicting native orchids. NATURE RESPONSIBILITY - ORCHIDS With more than 20,000 species, orchids are one of the richest and most diverse plant families in the world. Since time immemorial, they claim the special interest of countless nature lovers because of their beauty and colourfulness. Their main area of ​​distribution are the tropics and subtropics, where they mainly occur as tree-breakers (epiphytes). In temperate climates, including Europe, they are already reaching the limit of their distribution and are exclusively soil dwellers. Their share of the total number of European plant species reaches just under 2 percent. Here they are mainly bound to locations that were created by limited human intervention and management forms. This results in the particular problem of their conservation in Europe in connection with the worldwide efforts to protect them, in which the GDR, in which as one of the few countries without exception all orchids are protected, occupies a leading position in the world. 20-pfennig value: Meat-Red Orchid - Dactylorhiza incarnata (L.) SOO This species-rich, 15 to 100 (120) cm high reaching species inhabits North Africa, Europe and Asia Minor. In Central Europe, the ungulate foliage-exhibiting species occurs predominantly light to vigorous rosaceae, rarely also white-blooded. Noteworthy is the vigorously developed, light yellow flowering, rare subspecies ochroleuca (BOLL) HUNT & SUMMERH. The species inhabits humid and moorland meadows as well as flat bogs. Frequently bastards with the broadleaf cuckoo flower occur - Dactylorhiza majalis (RCHB.) HUNT & SUMMERH. on. The number of occurrences in Central Europe has fallen sharply lately.