AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

I was born March 13, 1933 in Nancy, a city of 320,000 inhabitants which lies in the northeast corner of France 60 miles (96 km) south of Verdun. My father was Marcel Boussard who worked as an accountant. He married Mary Heintz and together they produced two sons and two daughters. I am the eldest.

From the age of fifteen I began to take an interest in nature, especially iris and lilies. I remember being particularly impressed by clumps of Iris germanica and Lilium candidum-the Madonna lily, growing in my grandmother's garden in a suburb of Nancy. I was also attracted by our lovely native Orchis and Ophrys terrestrial orchid species.

School in Nancy began for me in 1940. My later studies were at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Nancy. My thesis, written in 1959, was on bacteriological biochemistry.

My career included a stay as a pathologist at the Hospices Civila in Nancy and in 1962 1 was appointed to the position of Chief Pathologist at St. Nicola Hospital in Verdun. I remained in this position from 1962 to 1995 and retired on April 1, 1995.

In 1953 I met Suzanne Adnet and we married in 1955. We have six children: Francois, born in 1956, now an engineer at the Commissariat Energie Atomique (CEA is the French nuclear board); Noel, born in 1957, a physician in the Intensive Care Unit at the Hospital of Nancy; Michael, born in 1959, a supervisor in a fast food CY (Quick, the European competitor of MeDo); Helene, born in 1961, who followed in her father's footsteps and is now a pathologist; Etienne, born in 1962, a professor of philosophy; and Jean-Yves, born in 1964, who followed in his grandfather's footsteps to become an accountant.

I became interested in the Iridaceae and started a collection in 1957, almost 40 years ago. To begin my collection, I ordered seeds through the Index Seminum of various botanic gardens. I received the Index through the kindness of the Curator of the Botanic Garden of Nancy. I have to confess there were many "bugs" and mistakes in the way of nomenclature problems among the seed I received from the various gardens.

In the years following the start of my interest -in the Iridaceae, I became a member of various societies involved in iridaceous matters: the British Iris Society; SIGNA (Species Iris Group of North America) of the American Iris Society, the Botanical Society of South Africa, Indigenous Bulb Growers Association of South Africa and the International Bulb Society.

It was my honor to serve as president of the Societe Francaise Iris et Bulbeuses, the French Iris Society, for six years from 1968 to 1974. Since 1993, 1 have, once again, had the privilege of serving another term as the society's president.

Over the years I also became acquainted with correspondents who were interested in bulbs: Georges Delpierre in South Africa, Niel du Plessis in South Africa, Peter Goldblatt (first in South Africa and later in the United States), P.F. Ravenna in Argentina and later Chile, Alberto Castillo in Latin America, Brian Mathew in England, G. Rodionenko in Russia, Charles Hardman in the United States, the late G.J. Lewis in South Africa, and the late Elwood Molseed who was associated with the University of California, Berkeley, USA, to mention a few. While at first these people were only correspondents, they later turned out to be good friends.

I traveled to Africa for collecting trips on three different occasions, in 1984 and 1985 visiting the Cameroons, then again in 1991, visiting the Republic of South Africa. All three trips were quite rewarding. Another journey is planned for Brasil in 1997.

My collection now includes 750 species distributed through about 65 genera. At the moment my collection is increasing slowly, sometimes barely at all. To a large degree this is due to a lack of any reliable sources in some of the world's remote areas, particularly in tropical and South America. Throughout certain of the world's prime rare species habitats or botanically unexplored areas, distances are huge and local politics often place even seed and plant collectors in jeopardy. However, I am pleased to report that the extensive seed exchange lists of some plant societies-and especially, recently, the Seed Exchange of the International Bulb Society-are bringing some valuable additions to my own species collection as well as to the Collections of other interested species plant growers.

In addition to my Iridaceae, I grow a few other plants, and of these I have a special interest in orchids. Some of the "bulbous" or tuberous orchids I grow include Barlia, Bletia, Bletilla, Bonatea, Calanthe, Disa, Eulophia, Gymnadenia, Himanthoglossum, Ophrys, Orchis, Pleione, Satyrium, Serapias, Spathoglottis and Spiranthes.

I grow bulbous plants for the sheer pleasure of it and for the rewards it brings in growing them to the best of my-and their abilities. That in itself is sufficient justification for my years of work with my plant collection.

If I have aided even one other person in a similar endeavour, that is, of course, an added benefit. However, if, as a result of my work with rare and endangered plant species, I have helped save from extinction even one among the many I have grown, then my satisfaction is complete and my lifelong devotion to the plants in my collection is more than justified. This "task" I assigned myself so long ago has made me happy and thereby turned its toil into fun.

Maurice Boussard