January 2007

The two cheque books of self adhesive stamps depict the images of the rose and the hoopoe.

"Rosa"

"Ver Portada y Contraportada"

The rose is one of the most popular flowers known as the “Garden Queen”. It is the most appreciated flower because of its soft aroma, variety of colours, shapes and sizes, depending on its origin and species. A rose is a flowering shrub of the genus Rosa, and the flower of this shrub. There are more than a hundred species of wild roses, all from the northern hemisphere and mostly from temperate regions. The species form a group of generally prickly shrubs or climbers, and sometimes trailing plants, reaching 2–5 m tall. The leaves of most species are 5–15 cm long, pinnate, with leaflets and basal stipules; the leaflets usually have a serrated margin, and often a few small prickles on the underside of the stem. The vast majority of roses are deciduous, but a few (particularly in Southeast Asia) are evergreen or nearly so. The flowers of most species roses have ten parts (five petals and five sepals) with the exception of Rosa sericea which often has only four of each; and are usually white or pink, though in a few species yellow or red. The ovary is inferior, developing below the petals and sepals. Though most of the roses are cultivated and used for ornamentation purposes, they are also sought after for their essential oil in cosmetics and in gastronomy and medicine. There are more than hundred species and varied in colour and shape.

"Abubilla"

"Ver Portada y Contraportada"

The hoopoe is an exotic looking bird that is the size of a mistle thrush. It has a pinkish-brown body, striking black and white wings, a long black down curved bill, and a long pinkish-brown crest which it raises when excited. It breeds in the open country with a scattering of old trees, olive groves, orchards or small woods with a stream nearby and during incubation time the female segregates a pestilent smell. Hoopoes feed on spiders, snails, insects and their larvae that they find either on the surface of the ground or by probing into the ground with their long bill. It can climb in tight circles, its rounded wings providing better 'lift'. These climbs can be followed by sudden swoops. It bathes in the sand, never in water. Their chicks stay 22 to 24 days in the nest.