Major Plains is a rural locality situated to the north-west of Benalla

Benalla, Victoria

Benalla is a city of just over 9,000 people located just off the Hume Freeway in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, about southwest of Wangaratta. Its Local Government Area is the Rural City of Benalla.- Overview :...

 in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It is 226 kilometres by road from Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

.

The main east-west roads in the locality are Dookie-Devenish Road, Major Plains Road and Gooroombat-Dookie College Road (Thomas Road), while the main north-south roads are Duggans Road, Benalla Boundary Road (which divides the local government areas) and Roberts Road.

A primary school operated in the locality between 1918 and 1946. The original Major Plains Post Office was opened on 1 July 1870 and was temporarily renamed as Devenish Post Office between 1874 and 1878 before closing in 1898. A post office was re-established in 1901 and operated until 1948.

The heavy clay soil originally supported a Grey Box

Eucalyptus microcarpa

Eucalyptus microcarpa, or Grey Box, is a species of Eucalyptus which is endemic to Australia.It is a spreading tree which has fibrous grey bark on the trunk and lower branches, but has smooth, grey-brown bark on its upper branches The flower buds have conical caps and the flowers themselves,...

 and Red Gum grassy woodland, and grassy wetlands to the north of Grogans Road.
Native shrub species include Mallee Wattle (Acacia montana

Acacia montana

Acacia montana, commonly known as Mallee Wattle, is a shrub species that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. The species was first formally described in 1842 by English botanist George Bentham from plant material collected from the "highlands near the Liverpool Plains" in New South Wales....

), Hedge Wattle (Acacia paradoxa

Acacia paradoxa

Acacia paradoxa is a plant in the Fabaceae family. Its common names include kangaroo thorn, prickly wattle, hedge wattle and paradox acacia. This is a large shrub up to 3 metres tall and wide. It is dense with foliage; the leaves are actually enlarged petioles known as phyllodes. They are crinkly...

), Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria spinosa

Bursaria spinosa

Bursaria spinosa is a small tree or shrub in the family Pittosporaceae. The species occurs in mainly in the eastern and southern half of Australia and not in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Reaching 10 m high, it bears fragrant white flowers at any time of year but particularly summer...

) and Drooping Cassinia (Cassinia arcuata

Cassinia arcuata

Cassinia arcuata, commonly known as Drooping Cassinia, Chinese Scrub, Chinese Shrub or Sifton Bush, is a shrub species in the family Asteraceae. It is endemic to southern Australia. It grows to 2 metres high and has sticky leaves which are 40 to 15 mm long and 1.5mm wide. The pale brown...

).