About This Stamp
Celebrate the beauty of mountain wildflowers with four stamps. Each stamp in the block of four includes an illustration of one of these flowers: a purple pasqueflower; an orange-red wood lily; a bright yellow alpine buttercup; and a dark pink Woods’ rose. The artist’s hand-drawn illustrations, refined digitally, create a block-print aesthetic. The color and shape of each flower was selected for its unique beauty and to complement the block of four. An important part of the natural world, wildflower habitats support species from butterflies and bees to birds and foraging mammals. Wildflowers grow in varied environments, including bogs and swamps, forests and woodlands, alpine meadows, mountain slopes, and coastal bluffs — even deserts. Some wildflowers are widely distributed across the United States, while others are specific to just a small area. Pasqueflower (Anemone patens) is distributed in the western and central U.S. It grows on mountain slopes and meadows as well as on prairie grasslands. One of the earliest blooming wildflowers, the common name pasque refers to Easter or Passover, when the flowers first begin to appear. Woods’ rose (Rosa woodsii) is native to parts of the western and central U.S. and blooms in late spring through July on stony slopes and in mountain forests, among other habitats. This fast-growing, long-lived perennial plant forms dense thickets of thorny shrubs that can reach 10 feet in height. Wood lily (Lilium philadelphicum) is a red or red-orange, summer-blooming flower. The native plant grows in many habitats, including mountain meadows in western states and the grassland prairies of the Great Plains. It is rarer in the eastern part of the country. The bulbs were once gathered for food by Native Americans. Alpine buttercup (Ranunculus adoneus) is one of more than 330 species of the Ranunculaceae family that bloom in the U.S. The flowers appear in spring in mountain meadows near the edge of melting snows and continue to bloom into summer. The native plant is found in several western states. Wildflowers, like many garden flowers, can have several common names; they can even share common names with unrelated plants. Botanical names are also frequently in flux as scientists learn more about the characteristics of each plant and reclassify them. As of the date these stamps were issued, the names, common and scientific, were accurate. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamps with original art by Lili Arnold. The Mountain Flora stamps are being issued in booklets of 20 and coils of 3,000 and 10,000 Forever® stamps. These Forever stamps will always be equal to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
Stamp Art Director
Ethel Kessler
Ethel Kessler is an award-winning designer and art director who has worked with corporations, museums, public and private institutions, professional service organizations, and now, the United States Postal Service.
After earning a B.F.A. in visual communications from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Kessler worked as a graphic designer and project manager for the exhibits division of the United States Information Agency. Her work was distributed internationally on subjects such as Immigration, Entrepreneurship, Renovation of American Cities, and the Bicentennial of 1976. She was also responsible for exhibits in Morocco, Botswana, and El Salvador.
In 1981, she established Kessler Design, Inc., for which she is creative director and designer. Clients have included the Clinton Government reorganization, the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Television, the National Park Service, and the American Institute of Architects.
She has been an art director for the U.S. Postal Service’s stamp development program for more than 25 years. As an art director for USPS, Kessler has been responsible for creating more than 500 stamp designs, including the Breast Cancer Research stamp illustrated by Whitney Sherman. Issued in 1998, the stamp is still on sale and has raised more $98 million for breast cancer research. Other Kessler projects include the popular and highly regarded Nature of America 120 stamp series, a collaboration with nationally acclaimed nature illustrator John Dawson, the 12-year Lunar New Year series with Kam Mak, the American Filmmaking: Behind the Scenes 10 stamps issued in 2003, a 2016 pane of stamps celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, and the 2023 stamp honoring Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And many, many others.
Stamp Artist
Lili Arnold
Lili Arnold grew up in a family of artists. Spending most of her time as a child outdoors, she developed a deep appreciation for both the wonders of nature and creating by hand. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 2011 with a B.A. in art. Arnold fell in love with illustration and printmaking during her years at UCSC and has been pursuing a career in the arts ever since. Themes of nature, flora in particular, have been the primary focus of her work. She continues to produce new works and to exhibit around the Bay Area. She lives and works in Santa Cruz, California. Mountain Flora (2022) is Arnold’s first project for the U.S. Postal Service.