Scott No: 1703-1708
Serial number: T66
Values in set: 6
Date of issue: August 6, 1981
Denomination: 98 fen
Designer: Pan Keming
Size of stamps: 31*38.5mm
Perforation: 11.5
Sheet composition: 50 (10*5)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

T66 "Edible Fungi" special stamps were issued on August 6, 1981. The set consists of 6 stamps, printed by photogravure, designed by Pan Keming, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size 31 mm × 38.5 mm, perforation gauge 11.5, 50 stamps per sheet.

Theme of the Set

Edible fungi are large fungi that can be eaten and are rich in protein and various nutrients. China has a long history of foraging and cultivating them. This set selects six well-known edible fungi in China, including rare wild fungi and widely artificially cultivated varieties, popularizing fungal knowledge, displaying China's rich fungal resources, and at the same time promoting the development of the edible fungus cultivation industry. It is New China's first special stamp set on the theme of edible fungi.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Tremella

The main subject is tremella, also called white wood ear. The design presents translucent, wrinkled and curled milky-white petal-shaped fruiting bodies growing on dead wood. Tremella mostly grows in warm, humid mountain forests; it is both edible and a traditional tonic food.

Bamboo Fungus

The main subject is bamboo fungus, with a net-like white skirt below the cap and a slender stalk, unique and elegant in form, known as the "queen of fungi." It mostly grows in bamboo forests in the south and is a precious wild edible fungus.

Lion's Mane Mushroom

The main subject is the lion's mane mushroom. Its body is pure white and covered with fine, dense fleshy spines, resembling a monkey's head in appearance, and it grows attached to tree trunks. The lion's mane mushroom is a precious edible-and-medicinal fungus, mostly seen in broad-leaved forests in the wild, and is also a traditional mountain delicacy.

Big Red Mushroom

The main subject is the big red mushroom. Its cap is brilliantly red and its stalk pure white; it belongs to the Russula genus and mostly grows in southern pine forests and mixed forests. It is a well-known wild edible red mushroom.

Shiitake

The main subject is the shiitake. Its cap bears brown markings of alternating dark and light, and it is an edible fungus with a long history of artificial cultivation in China, with a rich aroma and wide distribution. It is also a mushroom familiar to the general public.

Button Mushroom

The main subject is the button mushroom. Its cap is round and pure white, and it is a mushroom variety widely cultivated around the world, suited to large-scale artificial cultivation and very common on everyday dining tables.

Artistic Design Features

The set adopts a realistic botanical sketching style, and each stamp is paired with a background of the corresponding fungus's native growing environment—dead wood, woodland, and humus soil set off the main subject. The colors restore the fungi's true hues and textures, with accurate depiction of forms and high recognizability. The six fungi have different forms—petal-shaped, net-like, spherical, and umbrella-shaped—with rich contrasts. The images are clean and natural, combining science-popularization value with visual appeal. It is a classic work among plant science-popularization stamps of the 1980s.