CROATIAN FLORA 2000 - GERANIUM DALMATICUM

The postage stamps have been issued in a combined edition in a 20-stamp sheet, and individually in two stamp booklets of ten stamps each. The Croatian Post issued First Day Cover (FDC). GERANIUM DALMATICUM belongs to the genus of Geraniums, from the plant family Geraniaceae. The name of the genus originates from the Greek word geranos which means crane (on account of the bill-shaped fruit). This plant is a Croatian endemic species, and it grows on the peninsula Pelješac where it was originally found and described as a new species. The Geranium dalmaticum is 10 to 15 centimetres high and grows in larger clusters. It has a mild and pleasant smell and is honeyful. All the leaves are placed at the base of the plant, they are small, kidney-shaped to round, pentapartite, smooth, of a fresh green colour. The flowers are beautiful and attractive and consist of five sepals and five overlapping delicately pink petals. They blossom in June and July. The Geranium dalmaticum is a Mediterranean plant from the area along the sea. It can be found in the calcareous sandbanks, in the rocky crevices and among the crags, as well as in the limestone cracks and karst valleys. In Croatia it mostly grows in its natural locality, in the forests of the Dalmatian black pine. At 200 to 900 metres height above sea level, souther and northern exposures, it creates dense pure assemblages of a few square metres. As an endemic and rare species, the Geranium dalmaticum is endangered as it grows on a very limited area. Because of its decorative appearance it is endangered by the plant collectors. Its habitat should be proclaimed a botanical reserve and thus be protected.