Kodachrome transparencies and a coloured picture from a tourist brochure, Aloes and Cycads, provided a guide to this formalized interpretation of the extraordinary Aloe excelsa, which in some districts grows tree-like to a height of 20 feet, but usually to 10 or 12 feet. The brown-red “pinnacles”, not unlike the corncob on the 1d, have overlapping petals similar to a fir-cone and these tend to open out rather more than is shown in the artwork. The artist’s ghostly suggestion of the leaf form is, however, most effective as a background. Note the spikes or thorns which fringe the thick, cactuslike leaves. The succulent leaves grow at the apex of the stem to a length of 3 feet and spread over the ground like enormous octopus-tentacles. Aloes grow widely throughout Southern Rhodesia—there is a unique collection in the Ewanrigg National Park—and they flower during the winter months of June, July and August.
Details
- Subject: Aloe
- Designer: Victor Whitely
- Printer: Harrison & Sons Ltd, London
- Process: Photogravure
- Paper: White paper
- Watermark: None
- Perf: 13.5 x 13 (comb)
- Cylinders:
- 1A (Yellow-green), 1A (Violet), 1A (Vermilion)
- 1B (Yellow-green), 1BA (Violet), 1B (Vermilion)
- Sheet: R10 x 6
- Quantity: 2,521,000
- Reprints: 1965
Cylinder Numbers
Sheet Numbers
Varieties
Shift in colour cylinders
Perforation shifted to right
Maximum Cards (Unofficial)
