2018 poinsettia Forever First Class Postage Stamps

Global Forever® stamp from the U.S.Postal Service®Celebrate the holidavs withOmsett9.2This Global Forever stamp can be used to mail a one-ounce letter to any country to which First-Class Mallinternational@ service isavailable. As with all Global Forever stamps, this stamp willhave a postage value equivalent to the price of the sinale-piece FirstClass Mail international first-ounce machineable letter in effect at the time of use.
The stamp art features a photo of a poinsettia. Taken from above, the photo captures the beauty of the green leaves, the redbracts, and the yellow flowers in the center of the plant.
The poinsettia-Euphorbia pulcherima-is a small tropical tree that can reach heights of more than 10 feet in the wild in its nativeMexico. We tend to think of the beautifuly colored “petals” as the fiowers, but in fact, those are the modified leaves called bracts.The poinsettia’s flower is the cluster of smal, yellow, cup-shaped structures in the center of the leaves.
Revered by the Aztec, the poinsettia was considered a symbol of purity. They used the bracts to make dye and cosmetics andcreated medicine for fever from the plant’s sap. During the 17th century, European priests observed that the plant bloomed duringthe winter months and incorporated it into festivals to celebrate the Nativity.
The plant was named in honor of Dr. joel Roberts Poinset, the first American ambassador to Mexico, who sent cuttings of theexotic plant back to the U.S. in the early vears of the 19th century. National Poinsetia Day is observed on December 12, the davthat Dr. Poinsett died.
Introduced to the American gardening public in 1829 at the first exhibition of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society-now knownas the Philadelphia Flower Show-the vivid red plant soon became associated with the holidays in the United States, Growers inCalifornia are credited with the 20th-century explosion in popularity and availability of the poinsettia, which continues today.
The poinsettia has more than 100 varieties, though red is still America’s favorite. Modern plants are bred in many other huesincluding pink, apricot, velow, cream, and white, in addition, there are unuswal varieties that blend several colors in speckled ormarbled patterns.
Poinsettias are now as much a part of the holidays as evergreens and mistletoe; tens of milions of plants are sold during theseason.
The art dlirector was Wiliam v. Gicker, Greg Breeding designed the stamp with an existing photograph by Betsy PettetThe Global Forever stamps are being issued in self-adhesive panes of 10.Made in the USA.