Victor Dmitrievich Zotov (16 September 1908 – 26 May 1977) was a New Zealand

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. Zotov was born in Vladivostok,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and in 1924, together with his parents, immigrated to New Zealand, after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. He attended Feilding Agricultural High School from 1925 to 1927, where he was taught by H.H.Allan, with whom he went to work in 1928 (having written his first scientific paper) at the Plant Research Station in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

. In 1936, this became the Plant Research Bureau within the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and he continued working in the Botany Division of this organisation until his retirement in 1968. Zotov's primary research interest was in New Zealand grasses, writing papers on canary grasses,

Arundinoideae The Arundinoideae are a subfamily of the true grass family Poaceae with around 40 species, including giant reed and common reed. Unlike many other members of the PACMAD clade of grasses, the Arundinoideae all use C3 photosynthesis. Their sist ...

and especially

Gramineae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated i ...

. He was also interested in the vegetation of the

Tararua Range The Tararua Range, often referred to as the Tararua Ranges or Tararua, is one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand. The Tararua Range runs northeast–southwest for from near Palmerston North to the upper reaches of ...

s where he enjoyed tramping, and additionally published on

soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the Topsoil, upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, Atmosphere of Ea ...

. Zotov was one of the botanists on the 1949 New Zealand American Fiordland Expedition.''''

Selected publications

* (1928) Observations and experiments on the suckling clover content of the pastures on the school farm. Feilding Agricultural College Bulletin 7: 9-11 *
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Some published names

* '' Chionochloa flavescens'' Zotov, New Zealand J. Bot. i. 97 (1963). * '' Chionochloa antarctica'' (Hook.f.) Zotov, New Zealand J. Bot. i. 99 (1963). * '' Erythranthera'' Zotov, New Zealand J. Bot. i. 124 (1963) (accepted name '' Rytidosperma'' Steud.) * ''Notodanthonia'' Zotov, New Zealand J. Bot. i. 104 (1963) (accepted name '' Rytidosperma'' Steud.) * '' Lachnagrostis lyallii'' (Hook.f.) Zotov, in Rec. Domin. Mus., N. Zeal. v. 142 (1965).

References

External links

Victor Zotov (photo Te Ara)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zotov, Victor Dmitrievich 1908 births 1977 deaths 20th-century New Zealand botanists People from Feilding Soviet emigrants Immigrants to New Zealand New Zealand people of Russian descent Russian emigrants to New Zealand