Royal Mail stamps featuring the orchid 'Vanda Rothschildiana', named after Lionel Walter, 2nd Lord Rothschild (1868-1937) who amassed the largest collection of taxonomic specimens ever assembled by one individual.
Lionel Walter, 2nd Lord Rothschild
Walter’s interest in natural history began when he was a child, collecting butterflies, and as a child, Walter knew exactly what he wanted to do when he grew up, announcing at the age of seven, 'Mama, Papa, I am going to make a museum...'. By the time he was ten, Walter had enough natural history objects to start his first museum, in a garden shed. His collection was to expand, forming the raw material for the publication of over 800 scientific papers and the description of several hundred previously unknown species, many described in his own periodical 'Novitates Zoologicae', published for 45 years. Walter's Zoological Museum at Tring, now the Natural History Museum Tring survives as a legacy of this remarkable collection.
The Vanda Rothschildiana
This beautiful orchid with violet-blue flowers, chequered with darker markings, was originally developed by Chassaing, the head-gardener at Château de Ferrières, Paris in 1931 and was named in honour of Walter, 2nd Lord Rothschild. In 1993 the orchid featured as one of a series of stamps circulated by the Royal Mail.
