This beautiful orchid was named after the famous turn of the 20th century, English botanist, C. C. Lacaita
and was first described from Sicily in 1909.
It is one of the seven members of the fuciflora group and undoubtedly the most handsome and unmistakable.
As with others of the group, the appendage is large and in some cases (see photo's) may be huge.
O. lacaitae has an interesting distribution centred on Sicily and southern Italy with outposts on a lone
island in Croatia and a single site (and apparently a single plant) on Malta. Nowhere is the species in any
way common and even in its "strongholds" it can be extremely elusive. One of its well known and
traditional sites in the Monte Grosso region of Sicily has recently disappeared under the foundations of
a new hotel and its fair to say that as a species its getting scarcer year by year.
This is a distinctive species and in its pure form is unlikely to be confused with any other Ophrys except
perhaps the Sicillian O. biancae which can often do a fair impersonation, though its much smaller flower size
is generally diagnostic. O. lacaitae does however tend to grow in association with other fuciflorids and this
has lead to some interesting gene sharing. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Sicily where O. lacaitae
and the endemics O. calliantha and O. biancae, together with O. oxyrrynchos can all appear in bewildering
forms and markings.
The illustrations all come from a group of four plants growing in the Pantallica area , east of Ferla in Sicily and date from the end of April 2011. (It can be a late flowerer)
