Eucalyptus pauciflora

Eucalyptus pauciflora is a tree or mallee, that typically grows to a height of 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 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 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Eucalyptus pauciflora was first formally described in 1827 by Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel from an unpublished description by Franz Sieber. Sprengel published the description in Systema Vegetabilium. The specific epithet pauciflora is from the Latin 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. • 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, 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 in South Australia and Tasmania. The species shows regional and ecological variation across this range. In Tasmania the species hybridises with Eucalyptus coccifera and Eucalyptus amygdalina. Some genetic studies can be found else where since the Tasmanian populations of Eucalyptus pauciflora found that chloroplast haplotypes are geographically structured and indicate three major glacial refugial regions: Storm Bay, Tamar Valley, and the St Paul's River Valley. == Conservation ==

The IUCN assessment notes that although the species remains widespread, localized declines are occurring due to habitat modification and climate-related stress in parts of its range. ==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 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 such that increased evaporation or sublimation would occur. It is estimated that the 2019-2020 bushfires impacted 462 km2 (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). The rarity of long-unburnt snow gum stands suggest fire regimes have been substantially altered in parts of the Victorian alps. ==Use in horticulture==

In cultivation in the UK, Eucalyptus pauciflora subsp. niphophila and Eucalyptus pauciflora subsp. debeuzevillei have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. ==Gallery==

File:Snow Gum Tree.jpg|A snowgum at Perisher in New South Wales File:Snow Gum1.JPG|Image showing the tree's ability to survive in deep snow File: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 File:Stillwell from Pulpit.jpg|Snow gum woodland below the tree line File:Eucalyptus Pauciflora in Thredbo.jpg|A tall snowgum in Thredbo ==References==