mallee
mallee Lexical Profile
mallee Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Australian Any of various low-growing, shrubby Australian eucalyptus trees (genus Eucalyptus, family Myrtaceae) that produce multiple slender stems arising from a single large underground lignotuber, adapted to survive drought and bushfires in semi-arid regions.
"After the bushfire swept through the reserve, the resilient mallee quickly sprouted fresh green shoots from its underground rootstock."
Australian Arid or semi-arid scrubland and bushland in southern and western Australia dominated by dense thickets of multi-stemmed eucalyptus shrubs.
"The conservationists spent weeks surveying the wildlife that inhabits the dry mallee of northwestern Victoria."
Australian Short for malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata), a stocky, ground-dwelling Australian mound-building bird of the family Megapodiidae that inhabits semi-arid eucalyptus scrubland and incubates its eggs inside large heaps of decaying vegetation and sandy soil.
"The ranger pointed out the massive earthen incubation mound built by a pair of mallees deep within the scrub."
• Rhymes for mallee
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-19th century from the Australian Aboriginal Wergaia language word 'mali', referring to the water-yielding eucalyptus species of northwestern Victoria.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.