Peafowl stamps series of DPR Korea.

Afropavo congensis and Pavo cristatus are depicted on DPR Korea stamps as part of the previous issue page.The two species are member of the Peafowl family.

Afropavo congensis or Congo Peafowl is a species of peafowl and as only member of the monotypic genus Afropavo. It has characteristics of both the peafowl and the guineafowl, which may indicate that the Congo Peafowl is a link between the two families. This peafowl is endemic to lowland rainforests of Congo River Basin in the central part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They feed mainly of fruits and invertebrates

The male is a large bird of up to 70 cm in length and has characteristics: feathers are deep blue with a metallic green and violet tinge; bare red neck skin, grey feet, and a black tail with fourteen feathers; head is adorned with vertical white elongated hair-like feathers on its crown. The female is generally a chestnut brown bird with a black abdomen, metallic green back, and a short chestnut brown crest. The male Congo Peafowl is monogamous. The male has a similar display to other peacocks, fanning its tail in this case, while other peacocks fan their upper tail coverts.
Due to ongoing habitat loss, small population size and hunting in some areas, the Congo Peafowl is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Peacock of DPR Korea on stamps.

DPR Korea, issued one souvenir sheet contain one peacock stamp and one set of 2 peafowl stamps series, Pavo cristatus and Afropavo congensis.

Pavo cristatus, known as Indian Peafowl, is one of the species of bird in the genus Pavo of the Phasianidae family known as peafowl. Pavo cristatus is a resident breeder in the Indian subcontinent. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen. The peacock is the national bird of India.

The species is found in dry semi-desert grasslands, scrub and deciduous forests. It forages and nests on the ground but roosts on top of trees. It eats seeds, insects, fruits, small mammals and reptiles.

Female’s size is about 86 cm long and weigh 2.75-4 kg, while male’s size average at about 2.12 m in full breeding plumage (107 cm) and weight 4-6 kg.

The Indian Peacock has iridescent blue-green plumage. The upper tail coverts on its back are elongated and ornate with an eye at the end of each feather. These are the Peacock's display feathers. The female plumage is a mixture of dull green, grey and iridescent blue, with the greenish-grey predominating.

Peafowl are most notable for the male's extravagant display feathers which, despite actually growing from their back, are known as a 'tail' or train. This train is in reality not the tail but the enormously elongated upper tail coverts. The tail itself is brown and short as in the peahen. The colours result from the micro-structure of the feathers and the resulting optical phenomena.

Fungi stamp series of Benin 1997 ( 2nd page)

This souvenir sheet depicted Amanita muscaria on one value stamp. This sheet as part of other six single stamps that described in the previous issue.

Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly Amanita, is a poisonous and psychoactive basiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita.Fully grown, the bright red cap is usually around 8–20 cm in diameter, although larger specimens have been found. The red colour may fade after rain and in older mushrooms. The free gills are white, as is the spore print. The stipe is white, 5–20 cm high by 1–2 cm wide, and has the slightly brittle, fibrous texture typical of many large mushrooms. At the base is a bulb that bears universal veil remnants in the form of two to four distinct rings or ruffs.

Their habitat native to conifer and deciduous woodlands throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including high elevations of warmer latitudes in regions like the Hindu Kush, the Mediterranean and Central America. As an Ectomycorrhizal fungus forms symbiotic relationships with a wide variety of trees, including pine, spruce, fir, birch, and cedar.

Amanita muscaria contains a number of biologically active agents, at least two of which, muscimol and ibotenic acid, are known to be psychoactive. However, Amanita muscaria is now primarily famed for its hallucinogenic properties with its main psychoactive constituent being the compound muscimol.

Fungi stamp series of Benin 1997

Benin has been issued six fungi stamps with different of denomination and one souvenir sheet contain one fungi stamp.The species of fungi depicted on six single stamps are Amanita caesarea 135F, Cortinarius collintus 170F, Amanita bisporigera 200F, Amanita rubescens 270F, Amanita virescens 300F and Amanita inaurata 400F.
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Amanita caesarea, commonly known in English as Caesar's Mushroom, is a highly regarded edible mushroom in the genus Amanita, This mushroom has an orange-red cap, initially hemispherical before convex and finally flat. The surface is smooth, and margins striated, and it can reach 15 - 20 cm in diameter. The free gills are pale to golden yellow, as is the cylinder-shaped stipe, which is 8-15 cm tall and 2-3 cm wide. The ring hangs loosely and is lined above and smooth below. The base of the stipe is thicker than the top and is seated in a greyish-white cup-like volva, which is a remnant of universal veil. The spores are white.
This mushroom fruits in oak woodland sometimes mixed with conifers, from early summer to mid autumn. It is found in North Africa and southern Europe, particularly in the hills of northern Italy.

Cortinarius collinitus is a species of fungi in the family Cortinairiaceae.The cap is 3–9 cm in diameter, convex to flat in shape, with a sticky, gelatinous surface (in moist conditions). The gills are adnexed, close, and pallid or pale violet in color. The stipe is typically 6–12 cm long and 1–1.5 cm thick, solid, equal, and has transverse scaly-looking bands. The spore print, like most Cortiniarius species, is rusty-brown. Edibility is unknown for this species.

Amanita bisporigera, is one of deadly white mushroom (destroying angle) in the genus Amanita and found in eastern and western North America. The toxin has contained is amatoxin . It is deadly toxin and characterized by having a white stalk and gills. The cap can be pure white, or white at the edge and yellowish, pinkish, or tan at the center. It has a partial veil, or ring (annulus) circling the upper stalk, and the gills are "free," not attached to the stalk. The cap is usually about 5–12 cm across; the stem is usually 7½–20 cm long and about ½–2 cm thick. They are found singly or in small groups.This species form ectomycorrhizal relationships with the roots of certain trees. They grow in or near the edges of woodlands. Also be found on lawns or grassy meadows near trees or shrubs.

Amanita rubescens, found in Europe and eastern North America, known as the European blusher, growing on poor soils as well as in deciduous or coniferous woodlands.The European blusher has a reddish-brown convex pileus (cap), that is up to 15 cm across, and strewn with small cream-coloured warts. The flesh of the mushroom is white, becoming pink when bruised or exposed to air. The stipe (stem) is white with flushes of the cap colour, and grows to a height of up to 15 cm. The gills are white and free of the stem, and display red spots when damaged. The ring is striate (i.e. has ridges) on its upper side. The spores are white, ovate, amyloid.
These species is edible when cooked. European Amanita rubescens is known to contain a hemolytic poison in its raw state. The flavour of the uncooked flesh is mild, but has a faint acrid aftertaste. The smell is not strong.

Russula virescens is a basidiomycete mushroom of the genus Russula, and is sometimes called the green-cracking Russula, the quilted green Russula, or the green brittlegill. A popular edible fungus with a mild or nutty taste and its distribution encompasses Britain, Europe, and Asia, where it occurs solitary or scattered on the ground in both deciduous and mixed forests, forming mycorrhizhal associations with hardwood trees like oak and European beech.
It can be recognized by its distinctive characteristic: cap is at first dome or barrel-shaped, becoming convex and flattened with age with a diameter of up to 15 cm .The cuticle of cap is thin, green coloured and can be readily peeled off the surface to a distance of about halfway towards the cap centre. The gills are white to cream coloured, crowded together, and have an adnate attachment to the stem. The gills are interconnected at their bases by veins. The stem is cylindrical, white and of variable height, up to 8 cm tall and 4 cm wide; it is roughly the same thickness at both the top and the base.

Amanita inaurata, is one species of the genus Amanita, and have similar characteristic with Amanita ceciliae, cap is convex with size 5 – 12 cm, gills is free from the stem or slightly attached to it, stem is long 7-18 cm in length, up to 2 cm thick; tapering slightly to apex; whitish; finely hairy or fairly smooth; without a ring; without a swollen base; with a whitish to greyish volva, flesh is white and spore print is white, inamyloid.
It is found mycorrhizal with hardwoods and conifers; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously; distribution in the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, and Texas .

To be continue on the next page, Amanita Muscaria.

Pet animals on Australia stamps

Pet animals have been depicted on Australian stamps like : Dog, Horse, Duck, Bird, and Cat. The people most get the pet animals for get the companionship, to protect a home or properties, or the beauty of the animals.

Pet animals on Indonesia stamps.

This mini-sheet contain six pet animals with different denomination value of stamps and has issued by Indonesian Post on 1999.

The beautiful mini-sheet depicted several pet animals like : Dove , pair of Jungle fowl, Dogs, Rabbits, Cat, and Ducks.
The most popular of pet animals are cat and dog.