Lindsay Stuart Smith (27 November 1917 – 12 September 1970) was an Australian

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 ...

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

Early years

Lindsay Smith was born in

Bundaberg Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, and attended Bundaberg South State School and later

Bundaberg State High School Bundaberg State High School is a heritage-listed Queensland State High Schools, state high school and technical college at 37 Maryborough Street, Bundaberg South, Queensland, Bundaberg South, Bundaberg, Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. ...

. In 1933 he began work as a clerk in the

Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock The Department of Primary Industries is the Queensland Government department responsible for developing Queensland's Primary sector of the economy, primary industries. The section known as Biosecurity Queensland is responsible for biosecurity m ...

. Except for war service with the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial strength of one ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he remained in that department, rising through the ranks to the position of Senior Botanist. After the war, he studied science in the evenings and in 1948 was awarded the degree of

First Class Honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

in Botany.

Career

During World War II, Smith made collections of rainforest species in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and subsequently studied these species with the help of

Cyril Tenison White Cyril Tenison White (17 August 1890 – 15 August 1950) was an Australian botanist. Early life White was born in Brisbane, Queensland, to Henry White, a trade broker, and Louisa (''nee'' Bailey). He attended school at South Brisbane State Sch ...

and

William Douglas Francis William Douglas Francis (6 March 1889 – 2 January 1959) was an Australian botanist. Born in Bega, New South Wales, at the age of 17 he moved with his father Alfred and brother Frederick from Wollongong, where he was attending Wollongong Su ...

and some of his collections become the nucleus of the herbarium at

Lae Lae (, , later ) is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River on the northern coast of Huon Gulf. It is at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is ...

. He made extensive studies of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Lantana ''Lantana'' () is a genus of about 150 species of perennial plant, perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropics, tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in num ...

'', a group of

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

in Australia, collecting many specimens in Australia and overseas. His notes on the biological control of ''Lantana'' were published after his death by his wife, Doris Alma Goy. The

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Myoporaceae Myoporaceae was a family of plants, found mostly in Australia, which included the following genera: * ''Diocirea'' * '' Eremophila'', also known as emu bush * ''Myoporum'', also known as Boobiala In the APG II system (continued in the APG III s ...

(now

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

) was a particular interest as were the mangroves. Smith was an active field naturalist, a member, occasional President and Honorary Treasurer of the Queensland Naturalists' Club and his biographer, Selwyn Everist noted that he will be "remember d orhis vast knowledge of plants and his patient courtesy in answering the many questions put to him by fellow naturalists at meetings and excursions". The species named by Smith include ''

Austromyrtus dulcis ''Austromyrtus dulcis'' is a species of plant native to eastern Australia. It grows as a small spreading shrub and is easily recognised by its characteristic berries that usually ripen in summer and autumn. Common names include the midgen berry, ...

'', '' Elaeocarpus stellaris'', '' Myoporum betcheanum'', and '' Xanthostemon verticillatus'', and the genera '' Peripentadenia'', '' Neorites'' and '' Neostrearia''. The species named in his honour are '' Eremophila linsmithii'' R.J.F.Hend., '' Elaeocarpus linsmithii'' Guymer and '' Grevillea linsmithii'' McGill. Smith suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 52, doing his work collecting plants at

Mount Barney Mount Barney is a mountain within the Scenic Rim Region in south-east Queensland, Australia. It lies approximately south-west of Brisbane, not far from the Queensland - New South Wales border, and forms part of the McPherson Range. It is a p ...

with his wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Lindsay Stuart 1917 births 1970 deaths People from Bundaberg Botanists with author abbreviations 20th-century Australian botanists Botany in Queensland