Republic of the Philippines - Stamps & Postal History

RP Issues of 2015

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2015, March 12.  Popular Fruits of the Philippines (Definitives)

Litho Offset, Amstar Company, Inc.,  Perf 13.5  (1p), Perf 13 1/4 (100p)

Singles, Sheets of  100

                           

 

     1p  Banana (Muza paradisiaca - Singles  (3,500,000)

100p  Cashew Fruit (Anacardium occidentale) - Singles   (500,000)

 

 

First Day Covers:  Manila

  

         

 

Popular Fruits of the Philippines

1p Banana (Musa paradisiacal).  The Banana plant, often erroneously referred to as a "tree", is a large herb, with succulent, very juicy stem, which is a cylinder of leaf-petiole sheaths, reaching a height of 20 to 25 ft (6-7.5 m) and arising from a fleshy rhizome or corm. 

Suckers spring up around the main plant forming a clump or "stool'', the eldest sucker replacing the main plant when it fruits and dies, and this process of succession continues indefinitely. Tender, smooth, oblong or elliptic, fleshy-stalked leaves, numbering 4 or 5 to 15, are arranged spirally and they unfurl, as the plant grows, at the rate of one per week in warm weather, and extend upward and outward, becoming as much as 9 ft (2.75 m) long and 2 ft (60 cm) wide. They may be entirely green, green with maroon splotches, or green on the upper side and red purple beneath. The inflorescence, a transformed growing point, is a terminal spike shooting out from the heart in the tip of the stem. At first, it is a large, long-oval, tapering, purple-clad bud. As it opens, it is seen that the slim, nectar-rich, tubular, toothed, white flowers are clustered in whorled double rows along the floral stalk, each cluster covered by a thick, waxy, hood-like bract, purple outside, deep-red within. Normally, the bract will lift from the first hand in 3 to 10 days.  

Edible Bananas originated in the Indo-Malaysian region reaching to northern Australia. They were known in the Mediterranean region in the 3rd Century B.C. and are believed to have been first carried to Europe in the 10th Century A.D. Early in the 16th Century, Portuguese mariners transported the plant from the West African coast to South America. The types found in cultivation in the Pacific have been traced to eastern Indonesia from where they spread to the Marquesas and by stages to Hawaii.  Bananas and Plantains are today grown in every humid tropical region and constitute the 4th largest fruit crop of the world, following the grape, citrus fruits and the apple. 
(Morton, J. 1987. Fruits of Warm Climates.)

100p Cashew Fruit (Anacardium occidentale).  An evergreen tree in the  cashew or sumac family that originated in Central and South America and is now cultivated commercially in semi-arid tropical areas in Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and southeastern Asia, including the Philippines, for the production of cashew nuts. The tree, which is up to 12 meters (40 feet) tall, has leathery alternate leaves, and flowers with 5 petals and 5 sepals. The fruits take an unusual form, with a kidney-shaped nut (drupe) borne on the end of a receptacle (the stem that holds the flower and fruit), which becomes enlarged and fleshy so that it appears as a fruit (with the nut like a comma dangling at its end), and is referred to as a “cashew apple.” 

The cashew apple is edible, with an astringent flavor, and is used in jams, jellies, chutneys, and beverages (including a cashew wine); it is a good source of vitamin A and contains up to five times as much vitamin C as citrus juice. Cashew apples are also used as animal fodder. Cashew nuts, which are important in the cuisine of India, are often roasted and salted and eaten as a snack, and are high in protein, vitamins (A, D, K, and E) and minerals (including calcium, phosphorus, and iron). Other products from the plant include cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL), which is an irritant to human skin (it causes blisters similar to those of poison ivy, Toxcicodendron radicans, which is in the same genus) but is used as a lubricant and insecticide; and acajou gum, from the plant’s stem, which can be used as a substitute for gum arabic or in similar applications, such as varnish.  http://eol.org/pages/582263/overview

 

 

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  • Fruits

 

Articles by Dr. Ngo Tiong Tak

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Issues of 2015