The U.S. Postal Service has selected paintings of bonsai trees by Hilo artist John D. Dawson for a series of five stamps to be released next year.

The stamps will be first-class “Forever” stamps.

The stamps depict the art of bonsai, Japanese for “plant in a pot,” cultivated miniature trees.

The five-stamp series depicts a Sierra juniper, a trident maple, a black pine, an azalea plant and a banyan. Plants 15 to 20 inches tall served as models for Dawson’s paintings.

Dawson’s previous work for the U.S. Postal Service includes stamps for the “Nature of America” series, the first of which was released in 1999 and depicted a Sonoran Desert landscape.

The issue date for the stamps has not been determined and will be announced this fall, the Postal Service said.