A-Z 2016 - Wildflowers 'X'

My theme this year is wild flowers. Most of us will be aware of the flowers that grow in our gardens but what surprises me is how few of the wild flowers that I know.

I pass them every day but rarely look at them. Well this year will be different - even if many of them fall under the letter 'X' for unknown.

'X' - Xique-Xique, X = Unknown

Not to be beaten I searched the net for a flower beginning with X. It would certainly be a sore point if you tangled with this Brazilian specimen,

Xique-Xique cactus

Can you make out that pink spot on one of the arms in the centre of the photo?

A close-up that I found elsewhere shows the flower and the cactus spikes you have to content with.

Xique-Xique flower

In the last year I have taken hundreds of photos of wildflowers, a vast number of which I've failed to identify. That's why I classified them 'X' - Unknown.

X1

Its stem is less than 3 inches long and its leaves give no clue to its name - a day later and it had gone.

X2

Here the leaves and the two buds at the right may give some help. If those buds resemble a bird's beak then this may be a Wood Crane's Bill.

Some flowers are just a pleasure to see even if they have finished up in my 'X' files.

X3 & X4

Please feel free to help me out if you are able to name any of these few examples.

Attributions:

• Xique-Xique Cactus - 6 Oct 2013, Acilondiolivera, CC-BY-SA 3.0
• Xique-Xique flower - 6 March 2014, Jose Pinlolo da Nobrega Alencar, CC BY-SA 3.0

Unknown Yellow - Sunday Stamps

The yellow theme this week proved more difficult than I expected. However, as you will see, it allows me to appeal for help.

There is no problem with my first stamp as it tells me what it is.

USA

This stamp was issued in 1966 to publicise the largely undivided highway following the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Ontario, Canada.

My second stamp is the one I know nothing about. I don't remember when I acquired it but it has obvious been soaked off an envelope. It has no distinguishing features that I can see which allow me to identify where it is from.

I don't even know whether I have presented this the right way up. 

I hope you will be able to help me identify which country issued it.

Meanwhile for less mysterious stamps please pop over to Viridian's sunday-stamps-78

I've just realised that this is my 400th post so help me celebrate by solving my query.