Mallee
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The term mallee has several separate but inter-related meanings.
- Mallee is any of a variety of eucalyptus species that grow with multiple stems that can propagate through coppice re-sprouting from lignotubers. Mallees are very well-equipped to withstand fire and drought, and are understood to have increased significantly in range since humans first arrived in Australia around 50,000 years ago and transformed the landscape. Some mallees have leaves which provide premium eucalyptus oil. Mallee roots make a superb clean, slow-burning fuel for fires, a property which has resulted in a great deal of destruction of native forest since European settlement.
- Mallee is also a vegetation type: a semi-arid area covered with multi-trunked shrubs or small trees — typically including one or several mallee species — is also called mallee.
- The Mallee is a district of far north-western Victoria, south of the Murray River and north of the Wimmera, that originally contained vast areas of mallee, some of which still survive. Note that mallee is widespread in many other areas of Australia also.
In the illustration at right, note the many strips of bark drooping to the ground. These are highly flammable and, as well as providing a mulch to retain whatever moisture the sandy, barren soil contains, and retarding the growth of competing plants, they act as tinder. Although easily damaged by bushfires, most mallees recover promptly, and it is to their long-term evolutionary advantage to encourage fire.