![Eucalyptus pauciflora1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Eucalyptus_pauciflora1.jpg)
''Eucalyptus pauciflora'', commonly known as snow gum, cabbage gum or white sally,
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 altitude.
Description
''Eucalyptus pauciflora'' is a tree or mallee, that typically grows to a height of and forms a
lignotuber
A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response t ...
. It has smooth white, grey or yellow bark that is shed in ribbons and sometimes has insect scribbles. Young plants and
coppice
Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeate ...
regrowth have dull, bluish green or
glaucous, broadly lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped to curved or elliptical, long and wide, tapering to a
petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf
axils in cluster of between seven and fifteen, sometimes more, on an unbranched
peduncle long, the individual buds on
pedicels
In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''.
Description
Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...
up to long. Mature buds are oval, long and 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 long and wide.
Taxonomy
''Eucalyptus pauciflora'' was first formally described in 1827 by
Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel
Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel (3 August 1766 – 15 March 1833) was a German botanist and physician who published an influential multivolume history of medicine, ''Versuch einer pragmatischen Geschichte der Arzneikunde'' (1792–99 in four vo ...
from an unpublished description by
Franz Sieber
Franz Wilhelm Sieber (30 March 1789 – 17 December 1844), was a botanist and collector who travelled to Europe, the Middle East, Southern Africa and Australia.
Early life
Franz Sieber was born in Prague, Bohemia on 30 March 1789.
After 5&nb ...
. Sprengel published the description in ''
Systema Vegetabilium''.
The
specific epithet ''pauciflora'' is from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''pauciflorus'' meaning "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 The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...
as at 30 November 2019:
*
''Eucalyptus pauciflora'' subsp. ''acerina'' Rule occurs in Victoria;
*
''Eucalyptus pauciflora'' subsp. ''debeuzevillei'' (Maiden
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
) L.A.S.Johnson & Blaxell
Donald Frederick Blaxell (born 1 February 1934, Sydney, New South Wales), is an Australian botanist, botanical collector and taxonomist.
Blaxell worked at the University of New South Wales for 11 years and joined the New south Wales Herbarium in ...
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, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.
Distribution and habitat
Snow gum grows in woodland along the ranges and tablelands, in flat, cold sites above from the far south-east of Queensland, through New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, and Victoria, to near
Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about south-east of the capital Ad ...
in South Australia and Tasmania.
In Tasmania the species
hybridises with ''
Eucalyptus coccifera
''Eucalyptus coccifera'', commonly known as the Tasmanian snow gum, is a small to medium-sized tree endemic to Tasmania. It has smooth, grey and cream-coloured bark, elliptic to lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between three a ...
'' and ''
Eucalyptus amygdalina
''Eucalyptus amygdalina'', commonly known as black peppermint, is a species of flowering plant that is endemic to Tasmania. It is a small to medium-sized tree with rough bark on park of the trunk, smooth grey to brown bark above, lance-shaped to ...
''.
Ecology
Snow gum is amongst the
hardiest of all eucalyptus species, surviving the severe winter temperatures of the
Australian Alps
The Australian Alps is a mountain range in southeast Australia. It comprises an interim Australian bioregion,0042-5184 However, the moth has also been a biovector of arsenic, transporting it from lowland feeding sites over long distances int ...
.
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 and year-round frosts. It has been
introduced to Norway.
Influence on snowpack processes
At altitudes where stands of snow gum coincide with seasonal snowfall above an altitude of about , the trees have been shown to increase snowpack accumulation and moderate melt, making snow gum critically important to the hydrology and water resources of southeast Australia. Contrary to characteristics of needle-leaf forests, snow gums don't frequently intercept large quantities of snowfall on branches and leaves where it increased evaporation or sublimation can occur.
As a result, snow accumulation is greater in living snow gum forests than burned forests or unforested areas.
Bushfire impact on snow gums alters these effects and leads to reduced snowpack longevity and greater evaporation/sublimation processes, in turn reducing snowpack runoff available for ecosystem and human use. It is estimated that the 2019-2020 bushfires impacted 462 km
2 (33%) of mapped snow gum forest that regularly has seasonal snowpack, which would equate to a reduction in annual snowpack runoff of 63.3 gigalitres (about 25,320 olympic swimming pools).
Use in horticulture
In cultivation in the UK, ''Eucalyptus pauciflora'' subsp. ''niphophila'' and ''Eucalyptus pauciflora'' subsp.
''debeuzevillei''
have gained the
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...
's
Award of Garden Merit.
Gallery
Image:Snow Gum Tree.jpg, A snowgum at Perisher in New South Wales
Image:Snow Gum1.JPG, Image showing the tree's ability to survive in deep snow
Image:Snow Gum 2.JPG, 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
Image:Stillwell from Pulpit.jpg, Snow gum woodland below the tree line
References
Further reading
* Iglesias Trabado, Gustavo (2007). ''Eucalyptus'' from Alpine Australia. Notes on taxonomy and cultivation in cold temperate climates, In
EUCALYPTOLOGICS
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2165298
pauciflora
Myrtales of Australia
Flora of the Australian Capital Territory
Flora of New South Wales
Flora of Queensland
Flora of Tasmania
Flora of Victoria (Australia)
Flora of South Australia
Trees of Australia
Trees of mild maritime climate
Plants described in 1827