The beaked ladies-tresses (Sacoila lanceolata (Aublet) Garay) are terrestrial orchids native to Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, and south to Brazil and northern Argentina. The flowers range in color from green to coral to brick red. The frosted appearance is due to the fine trichomes that cover the outer surfaces of the tepals.

In Florida, the ladies-tresses bloom anytime from April to July. The scape grows up to 60 centimeters (24 inches) in height and may have up to 30 flowers. According to Carlyle Luer, bloom time does not appear linked to temperature or day length, but to rain. The inflorescence arises from the roots soon after the first heavy rain in spring. Flowering lasts about a month. The scape flowers, produces seeds, and dries in just a few weeks. (The Native Orchids of Florida, New York Botanical Garden, 1972)

The beaked ladies-tresses do not flower every year, sometimes needing 2 or 3 years to build sufficient energy for their dramatic display. After flowering, ladies-tresses produce a basal rosette of fleshy leaves. The leaves remain until mid to late winter, then wither and die several weeks before setting new leaves or flowering.

Ladies-tresses refers both to Sacoila and the closely related Spiranthes orchids. The spiraled arrangement of the flowers was said to resemble a lady's twisted or braided hair. The beaked ladies-tresses was first discovered by the French botanist, Jean Baptiste Christophe Fusee Aublet in French Guiana. He described and named it, Limodorum lanceolatum, in his Historie des Plantes de la Guiane Francoise in 1775. Aublet built the name from the Greek limodoron, "gift of the meadow", and the Latin lanceola, "little spear". Since Aublet, this orchid has received an additional 36 botanical names.