July 2008

Correos issues two new self adhseive cheque book style booklets devoted to Flora and Fauna and depicting the Dahlia and European Bee-Eater.

Dahlia

The Dahlia comes from Mexico where it is considered to be the national flower. It belongs to the family of the Asteraceae, and the Dahlia genus. It was first described by Spanish botanist Francisco Hernández. The plant did not reach Europe until 1780 and it was Spanish naturist Antonio José Cavanilles who began its cultivation and named a variety of this flower, the “dalia variabilis” in homage to botanist Andreas Dahl. The Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, perennial plants. They can be a few centimeters high or as tall a one meter. The native forms are quite simple and daisy-like, but breeding has resulted in some wonderful flower forms and colours. They are planted in spring and they bloom at the beginning of the summer until late autumn. There are over 30 species and 20.000 varieties of dahlia.

European Bee-Eater

The European Bee-eater or Merops apiaster is a bird from the family of the Meropidae which breeds in most part of the Iberian Peninsula. It is a richly coloured bird with yellow and brown upper parts, yellow neck and bluish feathers in its lower parts. It has a long curved beak that makes it easily identified. It breeds in open country, in valleys and sandy banks near the river shores where it lays its eggs in tunnels made on the soft earth. Bee-eaters predominantly eat insects which are caught in the air. They lay from 4 to 7 eggs and reproduction goes from late April to late July.