Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands (MVG 14) is a Major Vegetation Group  which occurs in semi-arid areas of southern 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...

. The vegetation is dominated by mallee eucalypts

Mallee (habit)

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...

 which are rarely over 6 metres high. Other dominant plant genera are Melaleuca

Melaleuca

Melaleuca is a genus of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae known for its natural soothing and cleansing properties. There are well over 200 recognised species, most of which are endemic to Australia...

, Acacia

Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...

and Hakea

Hakea

Hakea is a genus of 149 species of shrubs and small trees in the Proteaceae, native to Australia. They are found throughout the country, with the highest species diversity being found in the south west of Western Australia....

.

The composition of the understorey depends on factors such as rainfall, soil composition as well as fire frequency and intensity. In subhumid areas, a variety of grasses and shrubs predominate, while in semi-arid areas hummock grasses (Triodia

Triodia (plant genus)

Triodia is a large genus of hummock-forming grass endemic to Australia; they are commonly known as spinifex, although they are not a part of the coastal genus Spinifex. There are currently 64 recognised species...

species) predominate.

In 2001, the area covered by this vegetation group was estimated to be 65% of its pre 1788

1788 in Australia

-Leaders:*Governor of New South Wales – Captain Arthur Phillip*Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley King*Commanding officer of the colony's marine presence – Major Robert Ross-Events:* 18 January – HMS Supply of the First Fleet arrives in Botany Bay....

 coverage. The most extensive extant area of this group in Australia today is found in the Great Victoria Desert

Great Victoria Desert

The Great Victoria Desert is a barren and sparsely populated desert area of southern Australia.-Location and description:The Great Victoria is the biggest desert in Australia and consists of many small sandhills, grassland plains, areas with a closely packed surface of pebbles and salt lakes...

. Prior to 1788, the largest area occurred in the Murray-Darling basin

Murray-Darling Basin

The Murray-Darling basin is a large geographical area in the interior of southeastern Australia, whose name is derived from its two major rivers, the Murray River and the Darling River. It drains one-seventh of the Australian land mass, and is currently by far the most significant agricultural...

.

The Major Vegetation Subgroups for this group are:

• Mallee with hummock grass
• Mallee with a dense shrubby understorey
• Mallee with an open shrubby understorey
• Mallee with a tussock grass understorey.