flower image : Man of the flower

There’s a lot of flowers I’ve seen once and never again,’’ he said. ‘‘The reason I made this catalog: I think I’m a collector at heart. I like to organize and catalog things.’’

Gasser will share his wildflower project with the public at 7 p.m. May 31 in the Hopkinton Public Library. He plans to talk about the town’s flowers and give tips on identifying and photographing violets, dandelions, marsh marigolds, and dwarf ginseng, to name just a few of the bright blossoms whose images he has captured.

‘‘It’s very interesting, and it’s a great hobby, and he put a lot of time and effort into it,’’ said library director Rownak Hussain, who added that Gasser is an example of the interesting local people she hopes to tap for library talks.

Walking through the woods near his house on a recent Sunday, Gasser came across a bunch of white flowers with four petals. Gasser had seen the plant the day before but it hadn’t blossomed.

He was stumped. He flipped through his blue binder, which is filled with his own photos and cross-referenced by petal number and color. Is it a bitter cress, he wondered? Then he leafed through one of the two reference books he had carried in his backpack. There was a rosette of leaves at the base of the plant just above ground, which should be a vital clue, he said.

‘‘It may be important but it’s not helping me figure it out,’’ he said, finally deciding he’d have to return with another book.

‘‘I’ll be glad if it’s one I don’t know,’’ he said. ‘‘I keep thinking I’ve seen all the ones I’m going to see. And then there’s more.’’

Gasser went back the next day to the mystery flower, as he had said he would.

He said he spent an hour with various books but couldn’t quite crack the code. The petals and leaves matched different varieties, which happens occasionally, he said. It was some kind of cress, he said, but he would have to wait until it grew a little more to finish his detective work.

by Morrie Gasser