Allard, Harry A.

Allard, Harry A. (Ardell) (1880–1963) botanist; born in Oxford, Mass. He worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (1906–46), concentrating his research on the physiology and pathology of tobacco and cotton. In 1920, with Wightman Garner, he discovered photoperiodism, a fundamental botanical law stating that the blossoming and fruiting of plants depends on the amount of exposure to light. Allard was a consummate naturalist whose field explorations to study the plants of Virginia and West Virginia resulted in a variety of publications dealing with the songbirds, amphibians, and the "musical" insects of the region, such as crickets and grasshoppers.