Mallee (habit)

Mallee (habit)
typical form of a mallee, Eucalyptus stricta

Mallee is the growth habit of certain eucalypt species that grow with multiple stems springing from an underground lignotuber, usually to a height of no more than ten metres. It is most common in plants of the genus Eucalyptus, many of which naturally grow in a mallee habit, and some of which grow as single-stemmed trees initially but recover in mallee form if burnt to the ground by bushfire. It also occurs in the closely related genera Corymbia and Angophora. The word mallee may also be used as a noun in reference to species or individual plants with a mallee habit.

Mallees are the dominant vegetation throughout semi-arid areas of Australia with reliable winter rainfall. Within this area, they form extensive woodlands and shrublands covering over 250,000 square kilometres. Thus mallee woodlands and shrublands are considered one of Australia's Major Vegetation Groups.

Widespread mallee species include:

  • E. dumosa (White Mallee)
  • E. socialis (Red Mallee)
  • E. gracilis (Yorrell)
  • E. oleosa (Red Mallee)
  • E. incrassata (Ridge-fruited Mallee)
  • E. diversifolia (Soap Mallee)

The Malleefowl is a bird characteristic of this habitat.

An example of a mallee in a high rainfall area is the rare Yellow Top Mallee Ash.

A woodland of trees and mallees in southern Western Australia

See also

Coppice

References


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mallee — may refer to: Mallee (habit), the habit of woody plants that grow with multiple stems from underground lignotubers Mallee (biogeographic region), a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia The Mallee, a district of north western… …   Wikipedia

  • Mallee — Verbreitung des Mallee Mallee nahe Kondinin, Westaustralien …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • mallee — /ˈmæli / (say malee) noun 1. any of various Australian species of Eucalyptus having a number of almost unbranched stems arising from a large underground lignotuber, as E. dumosa: *we passed scatterings of ironbark and bloodwood trees, odd clumps… …  

  • Mallet (habit) — A mallet is a is small tree form of Eucalyptus found in Western Australia. Unlike the mallee, it is single stemmed and lacks a lignotuber. Trees of this form have a slender trunk, steeply angled branches and sometimes form thickets. The mallet… …   Wikipedia

  • Eucalyptus macrandra — taxobox name = Eucalyptus macrandra image caption = Long flowered Marlock , River Yate regnum = Plantae unranked divisio = Angiosperms unranked classis = Eudicots unranked ordo = Rosids ordo = Myrtales familia = Myrtaceae genus = Eucalyptus… …   Wikipedia

  • Angophora costata —   Angophora costata …   Wikipedia Español

  • Coppicing — Coppice redirects here. For the locality in Oldham, see Coppice, Greater Manchester. For Bahamian coppice forests, see Bahamian dry forests. A recently coppiced alder stool in Hampshire …   Wikipedia

  • Eucalyptus mitchelliana — taxobox name = Buffalo Sallee regnum = Plantae unranked divisio = Angiosperms unranked classis = Eudicots unranked ordo = Rosids ordo = Myrtales familia = Myrtaceae genus = Eucalyptus species = E. mitchelliana binomial = Eucalyptus mitchelliana… …   Wikipedia

  • Angophora hispida —   Angophora hispida …   Wikipedia Español

  • black sallee — /blæk ˈsæli/ (say blak salee) noun a medium sized tree with mallee habit and white flowers, Eucalyptus stellulata; native to NSW and eastern Victoria …  

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