Rosemary Margaret Smith

 The Malay rose was initially described by Henry Nicholas Ridley as Hornstedtia venusta, however Smith was of the opinion that it be included in the Genus Etlingera which was then changed to Etlingera venusta. Smith was the first to define the Paracautleya genus. However, Skornickova (2005) and Sabu (2005) discovered that there weren't enough physical distinguishing traits for Smith to include the Malay rose within Etlingera venusta. Smith also identified that many species that should be considered part of Etlingera were incorrectly placed into incorrect genera by previous century researchers. They have combined their efforts to categorize a variety of species that are exclusive to Asian countries, including shell ginger. When examining the genus Amomum exclusively to Borneo, Smith was responsible of subdividing the huge variety of species within the genus into five groups. She also subdivided the Plagiostachys Plagiostachys species from Borneo into two distinct categories, based on their general structure. She was able to recognize five species of Scaphochlamys which were incorrectly identified and two species had been mistakenly placed in the genus Haplochorem