Caladenia melanema Hopper & A.P.Br.

Leaf 40–120 × 2–7 mm. Flower stem 80–150 mm tall, 1-or 2-flowered. Flowers 40–60 mm across, with a strong smell like burnt metal, cream to pale yellow with red markings; sepals and petals with prominent, short, dark red-brown to black, filamentous tips. Dorsal sepal erect, 20–45 × 1.5–2.5 mm. Lateral sepals spreading to decurved, 20–45 × 1.5–3 mm. Petals similarly arranged, 20–30 × 1.5–3 mm. Labellum 8–11 × 6–8 mm, cream with thick, red, radiating lines breaking up into spots and blotches; margins with short, white-tipped teeth; tip recurved. Calli anvil-shaped, cream, 8–12 pairs in 2 rows. Column 7–9 × 3–4 mm, creamy yellow with red markings.

Highly localised and rare; growing in mallee vegetation or shrubland on rises around salt lakes.