This is one of the four members of the O. lutea group and is unlikely to be confused with its fellow group
members because of its very dusky overall appearance, indeed its name "melena" means dark. It was first described from Mount Hymettus in 1928 and this area of Attica still forms the hub of its limited range.
Endemic to Greece, it is a rare orchid and unlike O. sicula, O. lutea and O. phyrganae it does not tend to
to occur in great numbers, even where conditions most suit it. O. melena is usually easily distinguished from its cousins by the extent of the brown hairs which can sometimes completely cover the lip of the flower. More normally the dark area shades through orange to brown and thence to a distinct yellow margin as with photo's 5 and 7.
Although it can be easily separated from its fellow group members the same cannot be said for species from other groups and some of O. melena's many variations can readily imitate Ophrys such as O. lindia
and O. perpusilla.
This orchid has been recognized for a long time and its status has been a point of contention for much
same period ! Some believe it to be merely a swarthy O. sicula and others a hybrid between that
species and fusca sl. The latter arguement would help to explain the extreme variability of this species
and hopefully these photo's go some way to illustrating this feature.
Photo's 1 and 4 are from Chios and the remainder were taken in the area of Mt Hymettus. All date from
the first week of April.
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