Vintage Unused Rudbeckia or “Black-eyed Susan” Flower Stamp (The Seasonal Garden), USPS Postage 32c

Product Description

• Minimum Quantity: 10 (buy more and save)
• Vintage Unused/Uncanceled U.S. Postage Stamp
• Rudbeckia, Flower, The Seasonal Garden, Yellow/Orange/Green, Multicolored
• Topic: Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Seasons, Fall, Fall Garden Flowers
• Size: 1¾ x 1 inches (approx.)
• Condition: mint, unused/uncanceled
• Adhesive Type: gummed
• Face Value: 32 cents each (USD)

Flower Information

Rudbeckia, commonly known as Black-eyed Susan, is native to North America with around 30 species. They can be found in both damp woodlands and dry prairies. The most well-known species is Rudbeckia hirta, which is native to the Eastern and Central parts of the continent and has naturalized in the Western part and China. The flower's Latin name, Rudbeckia hirta, comes from Swedish botanist Olof Rudbeck, a mentor of Carl Linnaeus, who named the genus in his honor. Hirta means "rough" or "hairy". The flower's common name may come from a ballad by English poet John Gay about a lovelorn woman named Black-eyed Susan. The seeds of the North American Rudbeckia were sent to Europe by John Bartram, a botanist, where they reached Carl Linnaeus.

Some species of Black-eyed Susans have other names, such as daisies, sunflowers, or coneflowers. They are pioneer plants, meaning they are the first to grow in areas damaged by natural disasters or fire. They are also the host plant for the Silvery Checkerspot butterfly caterpillar. Native American tribes used the plant to treat various ailments, including snake bites, sores, swellings, worms, and colds. 

Stamp History

Illustrated for the United States Postal Service (USPS) by Ned Seidler, this stamp is part of the The Seasonal Garden series. In 1992, the USPS issued a pane of 50 stamps, each depicting a different American wildflower. This series proved to be so popular that the USPS followed up with a colorful stamp booklet for each season honoring American garden flowers. Starting with the spring issue, the booklets were produced from 1993 to 1996. The artwork for each of these beautiful garden scenes depicts five seasonal flowers clustered together in bouquet format. 

"Rudbeckia" is one of five stamps in the Fall Garden Flowers series that was released on May 15, 1993. The selected fall blooms were the aster, chrysanthemum, dahlia, hydrangea, and the rudbeckia. Including hydrangea as a fall flowering plant illustrates the difficulty of seasonal categories, since this flower is sometimes regarded as a late spring or summer bloom. Unlike the other seasonal issues, here the artist allowed for space between the individual flowers.

Stamp History Courtesy of Smithsonian National Postal Museum