US #5802p
2023 Blue Button Organism – Life Magnified

• Pictures a microscopic view of a blue button organism
• Part of the Life Magnified set of 20 stamps

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  Life Magnified
Value:  66¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  August 10, 2023
First Day City:  Cleveland, Ohio
Quantity Issued:  32,000,000
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Offset, Flexographic
Format:  Panes of 20
Tagging:  Phosphor Tagged Paper, Block Tagging

Why the stamp was issued:  To show an up-close view of a blue button organism we would never be able to see with the naked eye.

About the stamp design:  Pictures a photograph taken with special techniques using a microscope.  Design also includes the name of the specimen.

First Day City:  First Day of Issue Ceremony was held in Cleveland, Ohio, at The Great American Stamp Show.

About the Life Magnified Set:  These 20 stamps were issued to showcase life undetectable by the human eye alone.  All 20 stamps picture photographs taken using special techniques and the aid of a microscope.  The set celebrates the beauty and complexity of microscopic organisms and parts of organisms, the study of which have had various impacts on humans.

History the stamp represents:  The blue button (Porpita porpita) is a fairly small creature found in tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Arabian Sea.  While it appears to be one organism, it’s actually a colony of many microscopic hydrozoan polyps clinging together.

Blue buttons were discovered by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 and are closely related to the by-the-wind-sailor (Velella velella) and Portuguese man o’ war (Physalia physalis).  (They are also distantly related to true jellyfish.)  Blue buttons reach diameters of up to 30 millimeters and consist of a central flat, round golden-brown disk.  This disk helps the polyp colony remain afloat as it is moved across the ocean’s surface by water and air currents.

The center disk of the blue button is surrounded by bright turquoise branch-like structures equipped with stinging cells called nematocysts.  These help the carnivorous blue button hunt small prey.  Thankfully, these stings are relatively harmless to humans, though they can cause some mild skin irritation.  In addition to catching prey, the branches are also responsible for reproduction and digestion.

Blue buttons originated 540-650 million years ago, making them relics of prehistory.  Amazingly, they still exist to this day.