Designed by Hans Hartman of Koniz, Switzerland, the stamps were manufactured in the photogravure process by the American Bank Note Company and issued in panes of forty.
Nerium oleander is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, toxic in all its parts. It is the only species currently classified in the genus Nerium. It is most commonly known as oleander, from its superficial resemblance to the unrelated olive (Olea), but has many other names. It is so widely cultivated that no precise region of origin has been identified, though southwest Asia has been suggested. The ancient city of Volubilis in Morocco took its name from the old Latin name for the flower. Oleander is one of the most poisonous of commonly grown garden plants.
Plumeria (common name Frangipani) is a genus of flowering plants of the family that includes Dogbane: the Apocynaceae. It contains 7-8 species of mainly deciduous shrubs and small trees. They are native to Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America as far south as Brazil but have been spread throughout the world's tropics.
In the Philippines and Indonesia, Plumeria, which is known Cebuano and Tagalog as calachuchi, is often associated with ghosts and graveyard. Plumerias are often planted on cemetery grounds in both countries.
