Bonsai Tree Forever First Class Postage Stamps

Bonsai means plant in a pot, and the art is about training a tree in a tray until it reads as a full-grown one in miniature. Each of these five stamps shows a different classic style. A Sierra juniper in semi-cascade, where the tip projects past the pot rim but does not fall below the base. A trident maple in informal upright, the trunk bending slightly as it rises. A black pine in formal upright, trunk dead straight and tapering evenly with symmetrical branches. An azalea, and a fifth tree rounding out the group.

Bonsai buyers are a defined group - clubs, nurseries, societies with newsletters - and these go on that mail first. Past that they suit anyone sending correspondence that wants to look considered rather than decorative: gallery invitations, tea and ceramics businesses, notes where a flower would be too much. Booklets of 20, five designs, four of each.