Cactus Flowers Forever First Class Postage Stamps

Ten cacti shown in bloom: Opuntia engelmannii, Rebutia minuscula, Echinocereus dasyacanthus, Echinocereus poselgeri, Echinocereus coccineus, Pelecyphora aselliformis, Parodia microsperma, Echinocactus horizonthalonius, Thelocactus heterochromus and Parodia scopa. The whole point of the set is the gap between the plant and the flower - spines and grey-green pads, then a magenta or yellow bloom that lasts a few days a year. The Postal Service dedicated them at the AmeriStamp Expo in Mesa, Arizona, with the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix taking part. Booklets of 20, each design appearing twice.

Southwest buyers treat these as their regional stamp, roughly the way New Englanders treat the lighthouse issues. Past that they go on garden club mail, nursery and seed company correspondence, and cards that want color without flowers-in-a-vase sentimentality. A booklet holds two of each design, which is ten cards sent without repeating a flower.