Rosemary Margaret Smith (1933–2004) was a Scottish botanist and illustrator[1] who specialized in the taxonomy of the Zingiberaceae, or ginger family.
[2] Many of the species she classified and identified as being placed into improper genera were found in Asian countries, especially in the isolated island of Borneo.
[8] Alongside B. L. Burtt in 1986, Smith identified that many of the species that should have been included in the genus Etlingera had been mistakenly put into incorrect genera by researchers in the prior century.
[13] In 1982, Smith published her research[14] on ginger species at Gunung Mulu National Park in Malaysia.
[15] While continuing her research in Borneo, Smith's publications in 1987 classified the six key physiological distinctions between the genera Scaphochlamys, Distichochlamys and Boesenbergia.