Mallees

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of eucalyptus tree characterized by a multi-stemmed growth habit that adapts well to dry, Australian environments
2. Referring to a specific group of small, shrubby eucalypts typically found in the mallee biome, notable for their resilience to drought
3. Denoting trees of a certain genus that thrive in arid regions, distinguished by their ability to regenerate from lignotubers after fire or stress

Etymology: "Mallees" is simply the plural of "mallee", so the history belongs to the singular. The word comes from an Aboriginal language of south-eastern Australia: it is probably borrowed from Wemba-Wemba "mali", a term with a close parallel in Woiwurrung "mali". Settlers in the colonies applied it to the pointed mallee, or red mallee (Eucalyptus socialis), and the name then spread to the broader group of low, multi-stemmed eucalypts that dominate the dry scrubland of southern Australia. The surprise is in how the name was used. The plants grow from a lignotuber, a woody swelling at the base that lets them resprout after fire or drought, which is why the term came to stand for a whole vegetation type rather than a single species. The regional landscape it names, the mallee country, takes its identity from that one word borrowed from the people who had long known these plants.

Synonyms: eucalyptus, bush, shrub