1969 6c Botanical Congress: Ocotillo

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Issue Date: August 23, 1969
City: Seattle, WA
Quantity: 159,195,000
Printed By: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Lithographed, engraved
Perforations: 11
Color: Multicolored

Issued to salute the eleventh International Botanical Congress, this stamp comes from a block of four stamps, originally issued attached, that was the first set of stamps devoted to flora from each of the four corners of the United States. They were also the first stamps to include Latin names.

Ocotillo is one of the more distinctive plants you'll encounter in the American desert Southwest. It grows as a tall, spiny shrub — up to about 20 feet — sending up a cluster of long, whip-like stems straight from the base in a loose funnel shape. Most of the year those stems look bare and almost dead, but that's just how it operates: after a rain, the whole plant quickly flushes out small bright green leaves, then drops them again once the soil dries out. This can happen several times over the course of a warm season.

Come spring and into summer, the tips of those stems put on a real show — tight clusters of scarlet, tubular flowers that are magnets for hummingbirds, bees, and all kinds of other birds and insects. The red-orange blooms can last from March through July depending on conditions.

It's native to flat desert areas from West Texas across to Southern California and down into northern Mexico, and it thrives in exactly the kind of conditions most plants hate — dry, sandy or rocky soils, full sun, and long droughts. The stems are seriously thorny, so a grouping of ocotillos makes a nearly impenetrable natural hedge or security barrier, which makes it popular in desert landscaping beyond just its looks.

The name comes from Mexican Spanish and means "little pine," a nod to the resinous quality of its stalks — that gum resin has historically been used for waterproofing leather and as a varnish or adhesive. It's easy enough to grow from cuttings taken just about any time of year, and the seeds need no special treatment before planting.

11th International Botanical Congress

On August 23, 1969, the US Post Office issued a set of four stamps for the 11th International Botanical Congress (IBC). They were the first US stamps that honored flora from each of the four corners of the United States. They were also the first to include Latin names.

Prior to the creation of the IBC, local botanical groups held meetings in their own areas to discuss the natural sciences. Over time, these groups grew large and many called for a large international organization. The first meeting of the IBC was held in 1864, in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting’s time and place were selected to coincide with an international horticultural exhibit there.

The conference was held annually for several years. At many of these meetings, several members requested that they standardize botanical nomenclature (scientific naming of the plants). While there was some discussion on the topic, the official rules weren’t set for several years.

Although the congresses date back to 1864, the formal numbering system still in use today wasn’t implemented until 1900. So the 1900 Congress is generally referred to as the First International Botanical Congress. Since then, the meetings have generally been held about every five or six years.

During these early congresses, they adopted French as the official language of their meetings, then changed it to English in 1935, and established that Latin would be used for plant descriptions. Up until 1926, all of the meetings had been held in Europe. The first one outside of Europe was held that year in Ithaca, New York.

The IBC returned to the US in 1969 for the 11th Congress in Seattle, Washington. At that meeting, they established the International Association of Bryologists (bryology is the study of mosses, liverworts, and hornworts). For the next several decades the meetings rotated between Europe, North America, and Australia. The first meeting in Asia occurred in 1993 in Japan. The most recent meeting was held in 2017 in China. You can learn about it here.