noun

• (Australia) A type of scrubland with low-growing thick eucalypts, characteristic of certain parts of Australia.
  "The ecology of much Western Australian mallee is poorly understood, so only a few general points can be made here. Mallee dominated by eucalypts including Eucalyptus redunca and E. eremophilia is mapped as widespread (Beard, 1975) on areas of brown calcareous earths north of Esperance (Northcote et al., 1967)."
• (Australia) Any semi-desert region of Australia where such scrub is the predominant vegetation.
  "Although not totally destitute of animal life, in the summer season very few living creatures, beyond innumerable tribes of insects, are to be found within the Mallee."
• (Australia) Any of several low-growing eucalypts characteristic of such scrubland, especially Eucalyptus dumosa, Eucalyptus oleosa, and Eucalyptus socialis.
  "An immense tract of country in this district is entirely occupied by a "scrub," as it is called in Colonial language, consisting of the mallee plant, Eucalyptus dumosa, the leaves of which at certain seasons become covered with this species of manna, which is known to the natives by the name of Lerp, the l being pronounced like the Italian gl."
• (botany, Australia) The growth habit of certain eucalypt species that grow with multiple stems springing from an underground lignotuber, shared by species of related genera.
  "[page 1-4, section 1.3] Of the many variations in form of the Eucalyptus (shrubs, mallees, trees, etc.), virtually all species being tested in the above category are those which exhibit good tree form (e.g., height, straightness of trunk, etc.). […] [page 2-1, section 2.2] Shrubby eucalypts are usually referred to as "mallees" although the term strictly applies to those species which have many stems growing from an enlarged rootstock (lignotuber)."

noun

• (India, South Asia) Alternative spelling of mali (“a member of a caste in South Asia whose traditional occupation is gardening; hence, any South Asian gardener”).
  "[H]ence the slow progress hitherto made in the cultivation of such produce of the garden as is generally held in estimation by the European portion of the community, left as it generally is, to the simple Hindoo mallee (or gardener,) it is not to be wondered at, that our bazars want what are deemed the more delicate articles of vegetable production for the table; […]"