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Florida Wetland

The U.S. Postal Service will issue a commemorative sheet of 39-cent Southern Florida Wetland stamps in 10 designs Oct. 4 at the Naples (Fla.) Zoo and Caribbean Gardens.

The stamps are the eighth in the Nature of America series, which promotes appreciation of major plant and animal communities in the United States. Previous issuances in the series have included stamps focusing on forests, coral reefs, arctic tundra, prairie and desert.

The subtropical wetlands of southern Florida are remnants of a great wilderness that stretched, unbroken, for hundreds of miles until about a century ago. They still include some of the most extensive saw grass marshes and mangrove swamps in the world.

In southern Florida, plants and animals are well adapted to water-level changes that correspond to alternating wet and dry seasons. Although some species require freshwater habitats, others are more salt-tolerant. The swamp pane depicts a wetland community in which freshwater mingles with salt water along the coast; as such, both freshwater and coastal species are depicted in the art.

For first-day cancellations, stamps may be purchased locally beginning Oct. 5, affixed to self-addressed envelopes and sent to SOUTHERN FLORIDA WETLAND STAMPS, POSTMASTER, NAPLES MAIN POST OFFICE, 1200 GOODLETTE RD N, NAPLES, FL 34102-9998. Orders must be postmarked by Nov. 3.

Holiday Snowflakes

The U.S. Postal Service will issue 39-cent Holiday Snowflakes special stamps in four designs Oct. 5 in New York City.

The stamps are photographs of snowflake patterns taken by physicist Kenneth Libbrecht, of Pasadena, Calif. Because fallen snowflakes start to melt and lose their shape in mere minutes, Libbrecht quickly transferred the snowflakes from cardboard to a glass slide using a paintbrush.