The ‘Smith Episode’

Summary A brief history of ‘Miscellaneous Notes’ appearing in the Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, Kew , is provided, beginning with Thiselton Dyer’s introduction to the Bulletin in 1887. The first of the Notes was in 1891 and the last in 1942. Most Notes in the Bulletin’s successor, Kew Bulletin , have been largely taxonomic, and not truly miscellaneous notes concerning the institution. A background to what is known in the registry files of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as the ‘Smith Episode’ is provided, together with examples of damage to the herbarium collections. An outline of the Botanical Liaison Officers from India, South Africa and Australia, colloquially knowns as IBLOs, SABLOs and ABLOs, is given. An account of the ‘Smith Episode’ is provided, insofar as it relates to Christo Albertyn Smith (the co-author of the first revision of Lopholaena ), third South African Botanical Liaison Officer to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the histories of the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Pretoria (South African National Biodiversity Institute). A summary of the extent of the damage is stated as provided by John Hutchinson. Smith’s final employment in Canberra, Australia, is also documented.