Rare and exotic cacti on new Malta stamps

Maltapost will be issuing a beautiful set of five stamps on Wednesday, featuring a selection of rare and exotic cacti.

The Maltese islands have very mild winters and this favours the cultivation of cacti and other succulent plants. This cultivation has become a popular hobby, leading to the formation, in 1951, of the Cactus and Succulent Society of Malta.

Cacti and succulents are such a popular hobby that, notwithstanding the fact that cacti are only found in certain countries, a number of countries frequently issue stamps featuring the more popular examples.

All the species shown in the new set are rare plants, and two of them have only been discovered in the last five years.

The Cactus and Succulent Society has unstintingly given its technical expertise for the compilation of this set of five stamps, one of which is dedicated to eco-tourism, as can be shown by the eco-tourism logo inset on the 37c stamp - the highest value in the set.

The set was designed by well-known artist Andrew Micallef, who has already designed other sets for Maltapost.

He is at present working on another sheetlet for next year's philatelic programme, showing sea shells.