Eucalyptus pauciflora

Snow gum
Eucalyptus pauciflora near Thredbo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Myrtaceae
Genus:	Eucalyptus
Species:	E. pauciflora
Binomial name
Eucalyptus pauciflora Sieber ex Spreng.
Synonyms
Synonyms Eucalyptus coriacea Schauer Eucalyptus coriacea Schauer var. coriacea Eucalyptus phlebophylla F.Muell. nom. inval., nom. nud. Eucalyptus phlebophylla F.Muell. ex Miq. Eucalyptus submultiplinervis Miq. Eucalyptus sylvicultrix F.Muell. ex Benth. nom. inval., pro syn.

bark

flower buds and flowers

Eucalyptus pauciflora, commonly known as snow gum, cabbage gum or white sallee, is a species of tree or mallee that is native to eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to elliptical leaves, flower buds in clusters of between seven and fifteen, white flowers and cup-shaped, conical or hemispherical fruit. It is widespread and locally common in woodland in cold sites above 700 m (2,300 ft) altitude.

Description

Eucalyptus pauciflora is a tree or mallee, that typically grows to a height of 20–30 m (66–98 ft) and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth white, grey or yellow bark that is shed in ribbons and sometimes has insect scribbles. Young plants and coppice regrowth have dull, bluish green or glaucous, broadly lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves that are 44–170 mm (1.7–6.7 in) long and 20–85 mm (0.79–3.35 in) wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped to curved or elliptical, 60–200 mm (2.4–7.9 in) long and 12–50 mm (0.47–1.97 in) wide, tapering to a petiole 8–33 mm (0.31–1.30 in) long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in cluster of between seven and fifteen, sometimes more, on an unbranched peduncle 3–15 mm (0.12–0.59 in) long, the individual buds on pedicels up to 6 mm (0.24 in) long. Mature buds are oval, 4–8 mm (0.16–0.31 in) long and 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) wide with a conical to rounded operculum. Flowering occurs from October to February and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, cup-shaped, conical or hemispherical capsule 5–11 mm (0.20–0.43 in) long and wide.

Taxonomy

Eucalyptus pauciflora was first formally described in 1827 by Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel from an unpublished description by Franz Sieber. Sprengel published the description in Systema Vegetabilium. The specific epithet pauciflora is Latin for 'few-flowered'. The term pauciflora (few-flowered) is a misnomer, and may originate in an early collected specimen losing its buds in transit.

Six subspecies are recognised by the Australian Plant Census as at 30 November 2019:

• Eucalyptus pauciflora subsp. acerina Rule occurs in Victoria;
• Eucalyptus pauciflora subsp. debeuzevillei (Maiden) L.A.S.Johnson & Blaxell in Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory;
• Eucalyptus pauciflora subsp. hedraia Rule in Victoria;
• Eucalyptus pauciflora subsp. niphophila (Maiden & Blakely) L.A.S.Johnson & Blaxell in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria;
• Eucalyptus pauciflora subsp. parvifructa Rule in Victoria;
• Eucalyptus pauciflora Sieber ex Spreng. subsp. pauciflora is found in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victora and Tasmania.

Distribution and habitat

Snow gum grows in woodland along the ranges and tablelands, in flat, cold sites above 700 m (2,300 ft) from the far south-east of Queensland, through New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, and Victoria, to near Mount Gambier in South Australia and Tasmania.

In Tasmania the species hybridises with Eucalyptus coccifera and Eucalyptus amygdalina.

Ecology

Snow gum is amongst the hardiest of all eucalyptus species, surviving the severe winter temperatures of the Australian Alps. The species regenerates from seed, by epicormic shoots below the bark, and from lignotubers. It is the most cold-tolerant species of eucalyptus, with E. pauciflora subsp. niphophila surviving temperatures down to −23 °C (−9 °F) and year-round frosts. It has been introduced to Norway.

• 
  image showing the tree's ability to survive in deep snow
• 
  image showing how the branches bend rather than break with the weight of the snow and how this causes snow to be lost from the leaves]]
• 
  Snow gum woodland below the tree line

Further reading

• Iglesias Trabado, Gustavo (2007). Eucalyptus from Alpine Australia. Notes on taxonomy and cultivation in cold temperate climates, In: EUCALYPTOLOGICS

External links

• Snow Gums: cold hardy
• Australian National Botanic Gardens
• Eucalypts for cold climates