Word.ws English Dictionary

mallee

Syllables: mal·leeUK/ˈmæli/US/ˈmɑli/

mallee noun: a type of scrubland with low-growing thick eucalypts, characteristic of certain parts of Australia. Also the alternative spelling of mali.

mallee: a type of scrubland with low-growing thick eucalypts, characteristic of certain parts of Australia
Image: Mark Marathon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

mallee (plural mallees)

  1. (Australia) A type of scrubland with low-growing thick eucalypts, characteristic of certain parts of Australia.
    • The ecology of much Western Australian mallee is poorly understood, so only a few general points can be made here. Mallee dominated by eucalypts including Eucalyptus redunca and E. eremophilia is mapped as widespread (Beard, 1975) on areas of brown calcareous earths north of Esperance (Northcote et...1994, R. F. Parsons, “Eucalyptus Scrubs and Shrublands”, in R. H. Groves, editor, Australian Vegetation, 2nd edition, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 301
    • Large areas of mallee shrublands are now either reserved specifically for biodiversity conservation or else managed sympathetically. Fire is a prominent feature of the semi-arid lands in general and the mallee shrublands in particular.2002, Ross A. Bradstock, Janet S. Cohn, “Fire Regimes and Biodiversity in Semi-arid Mallee Ecosystems”, in Ross A. Bradstock, Jann E. Williams, A. Malcolm Gill, editors, Flammable Australia: The Fire...
  2. (Australia) Any semi-desert region of Australia where such scrub is the predominant vegetation.
    • Although not totally destitute of animal life, in the summer season very few living creatures, beyond innumerable tribes of insects, are to be found within the Mallee.1867 December, A. M., “Lost in the Mallee”, in The Colonial Monthly; an Australian Magazine, volume I (New Series), number 4, Melbourne, Vic.: Clarson, Massina, & Co., […]; Sydney: Gibbs, Shallard, &...
    • 'They're going to lynch you, Regerson,' Harry told him, grinning. 'You'd better take to the mallee before they come for you.'1958, E. O. Schlunke, The Village Hampden: Stories, Sydney, N.S.W.: Angus & Robertson, →OCLC
  3. (Australia) Any of several low-growing eucalypts characteristic of such scrubland, especially Eucalyptus dumosa, Eucalyptus oleosa, and Eucalyptus socialis.
    • An immense tract of country in this district is entirely occupied by a "scrub," as it is called in Colonial language, consisting of the mallee plant, Eucalyptus dumosa, the leaves of which at certain seasons become covered with this species of manna, which is known to the natives by the name of...1851 January, Thomas Anderson, “On a New Species of Manna from New South Wales. [...] (From the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for July, 1849.)”, in Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society...
    • The water-yielding Eucalyptus is one of the many species which pass under the name of Eucalyptus Dumosa, extending from the desert tributaries of the Murray, westward, as far as Swan River, constituting those almost impenetrable scrubs called Malleè.1859, John Cairns, “Art. V.—On the Weir Malleè, a Water-yielding Tree, the Bulrush, and Porcupine Grass of Australia. … [Read before the Institute, 16th June, 1858.]”, in John Macadam, editor...
  4. (Australia) The growth habit of certain eucalypt species that grow with multiple stems springing from an underground lignotuber, shared by species of related genera.
    • [page 1-4, section 1.3] Of the many variations in form of the Eucalyptus (shrubs, mallees, trees, etc.), virtually all species being tested in the above category are those which exhibit good tree form (e.g., height, straightness of trunk, etc.). […] [page 2-1, section 2.2] Shrubby eucalypts are...1978 June, Eliseo O. Mariani; Warren A. Wood; Paul C. Kouchoukos; Mary Beth Minton; Marelco, Inc., “Introduction” and “The Eucalypts”, in The Eucalyptus Energy Farm: Feasibility Study and...
    • Eucalypts with a mallee growth form can also be found in areas wetter than those already considered and where single-stemmed eucalypts predominate. This occurs in a variety of unfavourable habitats, either by normally single-stemmed eucalypts assuming a mallee habit (e.g., E. baxteri) or by the...1994, R. F. Parsons, “Eucalyptus Scrubs and Shrublands”, in R. H. Groves, editor, Australian Vegetation, 2nd edition, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 292

Proper noun capitalized: Mallee

Mallee

  1. A locality in the Wentworth council area, south western New South Wales, Australia.
  2. A region of Victoria, Australia.
  3. An electoral division in Victoria, Australia.

Also used as

mallee is also the alternative spelling of mali.

Examples of mallee in a sentence

  • The ecology of much Western Australian mallee is poorly understood, so only a few general points can be made here.1994, R. F. Parsons, “Eucalyptus Scrubs and Shrublands”, in R. H. Groves, editor, Australian Vegetation, 2nd edition, Cambridge...
  • It made no difference that he had also invented several ploughs and a device for grubbing Mallee country or that people had journeyed all the way from Melbourne to inspect them.1985, Peter Carey, chapter 4, in Illywhacker, London: Faber and Faber, published 2003, →ISBN, page 365:
  • From the mallee and kurrajong trees came a rowdy chatter of parakeets, while queer soughing of air-currents came from the valley top.1931, Ion L. Idriess, Lasseter's Last Ride, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 187:
  • It was almost dark by the time we reached a small rocky hill, its boulders bursting with the white plumes of spinifex in flower, and a black fuzz of leafless mallee bush.1987, Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines, Vintage, published 1998, page 104:

Forms of mallee

pluralmallees

Origin of mallee

Probably borrowed from Wemba-Wemba mali; compare Woiwurrung mali.

See mali.

Words formed from mallee

Phrases with mallee

Words that rhyme with mallee

2 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about mallee

What does mallee mean?
Mallee means a type of scrubland with low-growing thick eucalypts, characteristic of certain parts of Australia.
How do you use mallee in a sentence?
The ecology of much Western Australian mallee is poorly understood, so only a few general points can be made here.
What part of speech is mallee?
Mallee can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce mallee?
Mallee is pronounced /ˈmæli/ (UK).
What is the plural of mallee?
The plural of mallee is mallees.

Words near mallee in the dictionary

  1. malleating
  2. malleation
  3. malleations
  4. Malleco
  5. malled
  6. mallee
  7. mallee bird
  8. mallee birds
  9. mallee fowl
  10. mallee fowls
  11. mallee hen

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mallee (page history and authors); Mallee (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-mallee.ogg.

Cite this entry: “mallee.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mallee. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.