[Science News] - The C. Smith Collection in the Herbarium Van Heurck: Thanks to the Mutineers of the Bounty

The Henri Van Heurck collection (AWH) in Meise Botanic Garden’s herbarium mainly contains plants collected in the 19th century. Among the few materials from the 18th century is a small but precious collection gathered by Christopher Smith (? - 1806?).

Very little is known about the Irish botanist Smith. His place and date of birth are unknown. He received training at Kew Gardens. Smith largely owed his career to the mutiny on the Bounty (1789), an event later made world-famous by the 1962 Hollywood classic Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando.

Captain Bligh was sent on the ship HMS Bounty to Tahiti to cultivate young breadfruit plants (Artocarpus altilis) and transport them to British West Indies (the Caribbean). The breadfruits were intended as a cheap food source for the enslaved people on plantations. During the voyage to the Caribbean, a mutiny broke out and part of the crew preferred the carefree life on Tahiti. Captain Bligh was set adrift in a small boat with his loyal officers. The Bounty was seized and later burned. The expedition had failed. From 1791 to 1793, Bligh made a second attempt (this time with the ship HMS Providence), which was successful. One of the two gardeners, selected by the famous botanist Joseph Banks (1743–1820) and responsible for growing and caring for the young plants, was Christopher Smith.

Thanks to his contributions during Captain Bligh’s expedition, Smith was able to start working for the British East India Company in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1794. From 1796 to 1802, he was sent to the Moluccas to collect spice plants. In addition to clove and nutmeg seedlings, Smith also gathered wild plants, such as the wild form of bilimbi (Averrhoa bilimbi). Bilimbi is related to starfruit (Averrhoa carambola) and is cultivated in tropical Asia and Latin America.

Until his death, Smith lived in Penang (Malaysia), where he oversaw the plantations of the shrubs he had introduced.

The plants in the Van Heurck collection, including a beautiful type specimen of Davallia trapeziformis Roxb., come from Saparua (labeled as Honimoa), Ambon (Amboyna), Nusa Laut (Nussalaut), Banda, and Malacca.

“Transplanting of the Bread-Fruit-Trees from Otaheite (Tahiti)” (1796) by Thomas Gosse (1765 - 1844). Source : Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales. The man standing in uniform is Captain Bligh, and the man in the striped shirt is Christopher Smith.

Type specimen of Davallia trapeziformis Roxb.	Label of the type specimen of Davallia trapeziformis Roxb. with very limited information: Ambo[yna], 96, C. Smith

Herbarium specimen of the wild form of bilimbi (Averrhoa bilimbi L.).	“Wild Averrhoa bilimbi”, Amboyna, August 1797. C. Smith.