Lloyd Thomas Evans AO FAA. 6 August 1927 — 23 March 2015

Lloyd Evans, a leading plant scientist, published extensively on the regulation of flowering and on crop production during a lifetime spent in research at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). His significant achievements included the identification of a gibberellin plant hormone as a flowering regulator in the grass Lolium temulentum, the discovery of a synthetic gibberellin growth retardant that blocked endogenous gibberellin synthesis, and the discovery of a novel biological flowering clock in Pharbitis with a 12 h (semidian) period. In crops he established the impact on yield of photosynthate production and transport to competing sinks. Two of his books, Crop evolution: adaptation and yield and Feeding the ten billion, have had a major influence on agricultural research and policy. His ability to define research options led to many years of international advisory work. He was an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, subsequently becoming President of the latter.