Charles Carmichael Lacaita

Charles Carmichael Lacaita (1853 - 17 July 1933) was a British botanist and Liberal politician.

Lacaita was the only son of Sir James Philip Lacaita and his wife Maria Clavering Gibson-Carmichael daughter of Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1879. He was Assistant Private Secretary to Earl Granville in 1885.^[1]

At the 1885 general election, Lacaita was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Dundee.^[2] He was re-elected in 1886,^[3] and resigned his seat on 7 February 1888 by the procedural device of acceoting the post of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds.^[4]

Lacaita was a botanist of note. He lived at Horsley near Leatherhead and later at Selham, West Sussex.^[5] Lacaita died at the age of 80. Lacaita married Mary Annabel Doyle, daughter of Sir Francis Hastings Doyle. Lacaita had nineteen plant species named after him.

• (Asteraceae) Centaurea lacaitae Peruzzi
• (Boraginaceae) Echium lacaitae Sennen
• (Brassicaceae) Draba lacaitae Boiss.
• (Caryophyllaceae) Cerastium lacaitae Barberis, Bechi & Miceli
• (Caryophyllaceae) Silene lacaitae Willk.
• (Cistaceae) Halimiocistus × lacaitae Dans.
• (Lamiaceae) Micromeria lacaitae Lojac.
• (Leguminosae) Lathyrus lacaitae Czefr.
• (Liliaceae) Gagea lacaitae Terrac. ex Lojac.
• (Orchidaceae) Ophrys lacaitae Lojac.
• (Plumbaginaceae) Armeria lacaitae (Villar) Rivas Mart.

The standard author abbreviation Lacaita is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.^[6]

References

1. ^ Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886
2. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 495. ISBN 0-900178-27-2. 
3. ^ London Gazette: no. 25609. p. 3504. 20 July 1886.
4. ^ Department of Information Services (14 January 2010). "Appointments to the Chiltern Hundreds and Manor of Northstead Stewardships since 1850". House of Commons Library. http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-04731.pdf. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
5. ^ New York Times Digging for Darwin 15 May 2009
6. ^ "Author Query". International Plant Names Index. http://www.ipni.org/ipni/authorsearchpage.do. 

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Charles Lacaita

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by George Armitstead Edmund Robertson	Member of Parliament for Dundee 1885 – 1888 With: Edmund Robertson	Succeeded by Joseph Firth Edmund Robertson

Persondata
Name	Lacaita, Charles Carmichael
Alternative names
Short description	British botanist and Liberal Member of Parliament
Date of birth	1853
Place of birth
Date of death	17 July 1933
Place of death