El Dorado County Fire-Safe Vegetation List

Key:

Zone = mz mountain zone above 3000',fz foothill zone below 3000', vz valley zone below 1500' (Note: For the following, if characteristics are unknown, may be arbitrarily assigned a "5".)

Fire = 1 fire resistant, 10 very flammable

Drought = 1 drought tolerant, 10 needs moisture

Deer = 1 deer resistant, 10 browsed hard

Shade = 1 shade tolerant, 10 full sun

Wildlife = 1 high value, 10 low value

All plants will burn if dry/heated sufficiently in a fire situation. Spacing, height and mix of species are important. Spring wildflowers may avoid fire by dormancy.

All Rights Reserved 2004. Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign. Notification of corrections/omissions appreciated. El Dorado Co. Fire-Safe Veg. List, Ver.1.1, 5/04, R.Griffiths. raygriff@innercite.com

Native Trees

Name	Common name	Zone	Fire	Drought	Deer	Shade	Wildlife	Comments
Abies concolor	White fir	mz	10	3	3	2	3	Shade tolerant, flammable "ladder fuel", common w/fire suppression. Seeds & hollow logs for wildlife.
Acer macrophyllum	Big-leaf Maple	m&fz	1	7	8	3	2	Needs moist soil, Browse, seeds, sap important to wildlife. Top killed by fire, sprouts from roots.
Aesculus californica	CA Buckeye	fz	4	3	4	7	4	Toxic but deer browsed, avoids drought by leaf loss, dry north slopes, fire killed top, sprout from roots.
Alnus rhombifolia	White Alder	all	1	10	7	9	4	Imp.to birds, not deer, needs moisture, attractive tree, nitrogen fixing, deep green, leaves imp. to streams.
Arbutus menziesii	Madrone	m&fz	2	3	6	3	2	Fruit for birds, poor browse, preferred for cavity nests, attractive leaves & bark, fire topkills, root sprout
Calocedrus decurrens	Incense Cedar	f&mz	1,10	3	2	2	3	Shade tolerant,young "ladder fuel",fire resistant mature,seeds insects & hollow logs for wildlife,timber tree.
Cornus nuttallii	Dogwood	mz	2	8	4	2	3	Shade tolerant, ornamental, deer browse shoots, birds like fruit, often riparian, fire top kills, resprouts.
Pinus lambertania	Sugar Pine	mz	2	3	3	4	4	Huge, beautiful, valuable timber tree, birds like seeds, cavity nesting, tolerant of light shade resists fire.
Pinus ponderosa	Ponderosa Pine	f&mz	2	2	2	9	3	Timber, mature fire resistant, plantations burn, seed cover snags down trees for wildlife, adaptable, sun
Pinus sabiniana	Grey Pine	fz	2	1	1	9	2	Drought tolerant, young fire killed, mature resistant, seeds valuable wildlife, rapid growth, serpentine soils
Populus fremontii	Cottonwood	v&fz	1	9	10	9	2	Large riparian, easily rooted&grown w/irrigation, rapid growth, messy, burns poorly, topkilled, resprouts.
Populus tremuloides	Aspen	mz	1	9	10	9	2	Needs moist soil, browse, seeds, sap important to wildlife. Top killed by fire, sprouts from roots, attractive
Pseudotsuga menziesii	Douglas Fir	mz	2	4	4	6	3	Timber, mature fire resistant, xmas tree, ornamental, seeds & cover for wildlife, endangered sp. in mature.
Quercus sp.	California Oaks							Most common native tree below conifers, acorns valuable to wildlife, cover & browse varies. All tolerate fire, most topkilled, resprout.
Quercus chrysolepis	Canyon Live Oak	f&mz	3	2	3	3	3	Strong timber, fire sensitive, resprouts, wildlife cover & food, fair browse, young shade tolerant, firewood
Quercus douglasii	Blue Oak	fz	4	2	8	7	2	Fire sensitive, resprouts decline w/age, poor seedling recruitment, valuable wildlife, fair browse, drought
Quercus garryana	Oregon Oak	f&mz	3	3	6	3	8	Large or small tree, fire topkilled, resprout, useful timber, acorns important for wildlife
Quercus kelloggii	Black Oak	f&mz	3	3	9	4	2	Timber, firewood, fire sensitive & tolerant, resprouts, attractive and useful tree, valuable wildlife, browse
Quercus lobata	Valley Oak	v&fz	3	3	8	7	2	Mature fire tolerant, young resprout, drought tolerant, deep alluvial soils, beautiful large tree, poor seedling
Quercus wislizenii	Int. Live Oak	v&fz	4	2	4	4	3	Fire sensitive, resprouts decline w/age, drought tolerant, shrub or tree, wildlife cover, browse resistant.
Salix sp.	Willows	all	1	10	10	8	1	Many species, all prefer moisture & sun, shrubs to trees, rarely burn, resprout, excellent for all wildlife.
Sequoiadendron giganteum	Giant Sequoia	mz	1	5	4	8	4	Attractive tree, young topkilled, mature fire immune, moisture, established drought tolerant, wildlife cover
Taxus brevifolia	Pacific Yew	mz	6	7	9	10	2	Shady moist coniferous forest, fire sensitive, rarely burned, shade tolerant, good hedge,browse, wildlife
Umbellularia californica	Ca. Bay	f&mz	3	3	5	3	5	Attractive tree, rarely burns,fire topkills, resprouts, mature drought tolerant, shoots browsed, fair wildlife

Native Shrubs

Name	Common name	Zone	Fire	Drought	Deer	Shade	Wildlife	Comments
Adenostema fasciculatum	Chamise	fz	10	1	2	10	9	Fine branched resinous "fire-bomb", needs fire, clear far away, encourage other less flammable sp.
Arctostaphylos sp.	Manzanita							Many species, most fire adapted, reproduce from seed, resprout., drought tolerant, thin for safety, few tree-like, attractive bark, flowers, fruit.
Arctostaphylos manzanita	Common Manzan.	fz	8	1	1	9	3	Fire killed, seed stimulated, tree-like, common southern Sierra, poor browse, wildlife cover, fruit, flowers
Arctostaphylos patula	Green-lf Manza	mz	8	2	2	8	3	Fire topkills, resprouts, poor browse, common high elevation shrub,cover flowers & fruit for wildlife
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi	Bearberry	fz	2	3	2	8	7	Fire resistant, topkills, resprouts, native to Sierras not local, many varieties,ground cover, + insects&cover
Arctostaphylos viscida	White-leaf Manz.	fz	9	1	2	10	3	Fire killed, seed stimulated, most common low elevation, tree-like, poor browse, wildlife cover, fruit flowers
Baccharis pilularis	Coyote Bush	fz	2	2	1	10	4	Fire resistant, top-kills, resprout, pioneer plant, tough, dwarf form groundcover, poor browse, + insects
Berberis sp.	Oregon Grape	f&mz	6	4	2	9	4	Fire topkills, resprout, attractive flowers, wildlife likes fruit, poor browse, likes some moisture
Calycanthus occidentalis	Ca Spicebush	fz	2	10	2	2	6	Foothill riparian shrub, beautiful flowers, needs water, deer resistant, shade tolerant but slow.
Ceanothus sp.