Mallee
/ˈmæli/noun
A type of Australian eucalypt that grows as a many-stemmed shrub or small tree, especially in dry regions.
Did you know?In Australian English, *mallee* became the name for eucalypts that resprout from a woody underground base called a lignotuber, a real botanical survival trick tied to fire and drought.
Etymological Timeline
Indigenous Australian languages
Aboriginal
mali / mallee
“A native term for certain shrubby eucalypts or the country they grow in”
19th Century
English
mallee
“An Australian term adopted into English for shrubby, many-stemmed eucalypts”
19th-20th Century
English
mallee scrub
“Dense low woodland or shrubland dominated by these eucalypts”
Modern English
English
mallee
“A mallee-form eucalypt or the dry Australian habitat where it grows”
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