Sparrow's Egg Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium passerinum

Definitive stamps must portray an image of Canada for a wide variety of people inside and outside the nation. Canadian wildflowers are just the subjects to do this. The flowers reflect the magnificent beauty of our country. The sparrow's egg lady's slipper, also known as Franklin's lady's slipper, beautifies the l0¢ definitive. The plant blooms in June and July from Quebec to the Yukon. The flower is an orchid, one of the few members of its family growing in the Arctic. Heather Cooper, Toronto artist and designer, is a partner in the firm of Burns, Cooper, Donoahue, Fleming & Company Limited, internationally known for their fine work in the graphic arts. Her design for this definitive and her accurate rendering of that flower convey the grace and beauty of the subject within the confines of a small stamp size. The Latin designation for the flower appears in the plate-block inscriptions. This issue of definitive stamp use Cartier typeface, first cut by the Canadian typographer, the late Carl Dair. This modified version was specially prepared for the Canada Post Office for use on postage stamps.