Wildflower Photo Collection Now on Web

A collection of some 12,000 color photographs of native California wildflowers assembled by the late Brother Alfred Brousseau is available on the World Wide Web at http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/flowers

Richardson's Geranium

Each picture is accompanied by a listing of the flower's scientific name, the common name, if known, its family, location, date of photography, and a reference number. Visitors to the web site can choose to see a full-screen version.

The photographs were made from 35mm color slides depicting more than 2,000 species of wildflowers. The images were scanned with the support of the University of California, Berkeley Digital Library Project and the state Department of Water Resources.

Oakland Star-tulip

Brother Alfred was born in San Francisco in 1908 and in 1923 joined the Brothers of the Christian Schools, remaining until his death in 1988 at age 80.

Skilled in mathematics, he earned a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California and was a professor of mathematics at St. Mary's College in Moraga for many years. He also engaged in writing, lecturing at conferences, and various academic activities including a stint as president of the California Mathematics Council.

In the mid 1940s, Brother Alfred combined his hobby of photography and his love of wildflowers. He spent countless hours among the flowers, camera in hand, to produce the spectacular collection that is his legacy.

Bitterroot

"Brother Alfred said he was interested in wildflowers because they reflected God's beauty," said Brother Eric Vogel, a longtime colleague at St. Mary's. "He could remember when and where he took each picture, and he could recognize any slide. He would drive for many miles to see if a certain flower was in bloom, and if it wasn't, he'd go back when it was."

After his death, Brother Eric rescued the wildflower collection, which nearly was discarded, and gradually got it scanned for digital distribution. He holds the 1995 copyright for the collection and allows non-commercial use.

Principal contributors to the California Wildflowers Project are St. Mary's College of California, the UC Berkeley Digital Library Project, the California Resources Agency, and the Department of Water Resources.

"Native Wildflowers of California" is available on CD-ROM for MAC or DOS for a $35 donation to help defray costs of the not-for-profit project. To order, send check payable to Brousseau Project, c/o Brother Eric Vogel, Saint Mary's College of California, 1928 St. Mary's Road, Moraga, CA, 94575. Telephone: 510-631-4296.