‘The Leaf Movements of Soybean, a Short-day Plant’. Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 15, no. 44

May, 1964

Private Collection

Oxford: Oxford University Press

After completing a PhD on onions, where he wittingly said ‘he wept out the war – dissecting onions for the Ministry of Food’ – Dr Martin Holdsworth (1920-1990) took up a position in the Botany Department in 1948, teaching medical, dental and home science students. Apart from a seven year stint in Ghana, he taught at Otago until he retired as associate professor in 1979. Holdsworth’s scholarly publications spanned a wide range of topics, including carbon dioxide uptake by succulents, the growth of mango trees, and the vegetation of Great Island, part of Three Kings Islands (Manawatawhi). Here is an early paper by him on the leaf movements of soybean.