Career

Collecting localities

Collections

Literature

Biographical data

 

Smith, Miles Staniforth Cater

 

(Source: Flora Malesiana ser. 1, 1: Cyclopaedia of collectors)

 

Born: 1869, Kingston, Vict., Australia.

 

career:

Was educated at the University of Melbourne (engineering); in 1896 to the W. Australian gold-fields, from 1900-01 Mayor of Kalgoorlie, and from 1901-06 on the federal senate of W. Australia. In 1907 appointed Commissioner for Lands and Director of Public Works, Papua; in 1908 Administrator, Commissioner for Lands, Director of Mines and Agriculture. Before proceeding to Papua, he spent some time in Ceylon and Singapore, studying agriculture and economic botany. In 1916 he enlisted in the Austr. Imp. Force; from 1919-21 Administrator of the Northern Territory.

Author of a ‘Handbook of the territory of Papua’ (Melbourne, 2nd ed. 1909).

 

Collecting localities:

SE. New Guinea, Papua. Kikori Expedition, 1910-11.1 Starting inland from Goaribari (Nov. 20, 1910), up the Kikori River; SE. spur of Mt Murray; climbing Mt Murray (within 14 days); Sambregi Creek (Dec. 10 starting downstream); all bagage lost on the Kikori River (Jan. 26, 1911); Goaribari Isl. (March 16). He was accompanied by A.E. Pratt (see there) and others; several other expeditions were equipped in search of them.

 

collections:

On Mt Murray a rough collection of ferns and mosses was made; it is not mentioned by whom, so possibly by A.E. Pratt. The whole of the collection was lost during the accidents on the Kikori River.

Smith sent Hopea glabrifolia sp. nov. from Misima Island (Papua) to Sydney [NSW].2

 

literature:

(1) cf. Ann. Rep. Papua 1910-11, 1911, p. 165-171, incl. notes on geology, climate, flora, fauna, etc., w. map.

St. Smith: ‘In unknown Papua’ (Gard. Bull. Str. Settlem. 1, 1912, p. 57-66); ‘Exploration in Papua’ (Geogr. Journ. Lond. 39, 1912, p. 313-331).

(2) cf. C.T. White in Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensl. 43, 1931, p. 49.

 

biographical data:

Austr. Encyclop. 2, 1926.