Iceland's National Flower

Mountain Avens (Dryas octopetala) was chosen as Iceland's National Flower in 2004 after a nationwide public opinion poll. The search for the national flower began many years ago with the purpose of finding a flower that would have symbolic meaning and could be used as a unifying emblem in publicity and educational work at home and abroad. The goal was also to stimulate discussion about flowers and vegetation in order to increase solidarity with environmental protection. Mountain Avens belongs to the rose family and not to buttercups (ranunculaceae) as its Icelandic name might indicate. It grows in dry localities where snow melts early, on gravel and rocky barrens, forming a distinct heath community. The flowers are produced on stalks up to 10 cm long, and have eight creamy white petals. The evergreen leaves are glabrous above, densely white-tomentose beneath.

467 - Iceland's National Flower
Day of issue : 02-02-2006
Printing process : Offset
Number in Sheet : 10
Printer : Osterreichische Staatsdruckerei
Size : 24.50 x 24.75 mm
Designer : Anna Pora Arnadottir / Jon Baldur Hlidberg
Value : 50 ISK

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