sugar maple

Acer saccharum · Sapindaceae · all Acer records · Wikipedia

Fire-resistant. Recommended by 4 independent evidence lineages with no objection on record across 29 cited sources. This status is computed from the cited evidence by the published rule, never hand-assigned. The page keeps its cited source rows visible for readers and separates each evidence channel from the computed result on this record.

▲ the PNW-590 regional list ▲ North Carolina's Bardon 2005 list ▲ the Eastern US Fire Performance Plant Selector ▲ Michigan's E2948 list

Computed class: Fire-resistant (consensus) — derived from the cited evidence by a published rule, never hand-assigned. Each chip above is one independent primary-evidence lineage and its direction. No plant is fireproof; condition and placement govern. Zone 0 is hardscape regardless.

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Is this one for your yard?

Enter your ZIP to see whether this is legal to plant in your state, and whether it survives your winter.

Form: tree
Mature height: ~100 ft
Water need: moderate
Rated in: Global; Maine; Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia; Michigan / Great Lakes +8

On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence: Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions
Fire ecology context
Placement evidence: 4 source placement records; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions: Global; Maine; Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia; Michigan / Great Lakes; NC; North Carolina; OR/WA/ID; Ohio / Midwest; Pacific Northwest (Oregon / Washington / Idaho); Virginia / Mid-Atlantic; eastern US; eastern WA
Maintenance

Typed publication scope: 10 scopes across 8 cited fire sources

Firewise Landscaping Plants (Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia editions) · Official scoped edition
- MD; partial normalized coverage · 2015-01-08
  Maryland Forest Service says the list contains plants that can be grown in Maryland and identifies Maryland natives. FireApproved publishes 169 exact source owners from the 180 printed rows; an unrepresentable form and duplicate-owner rows are not broadened. The list calls itself non-comprehensive and does not establish suitability for every Maryland site.
- NJ; partial normalized coverage
  New Jersey DEP publishes a state edition saying the listed plants can be grown in New Jersey and are relatively resistant to fire. Its same 180 printed taxon occurrences map to the 169 conservative owners already normalized for the template family. The list is non-comprehensive and does not establish suitability for every New Jersey site or override the Pinelands Commission's separate placement and fuel-break rules.
- WV; partial normalized coverage · 2026-08-26
  West Virginia Division of Forestry publishes a state edition saying the listed plants can be grown in West Virginia and are relatively resistant to fire. Its same 180 printed taxon occurrences map to the 169 conservative owners already normalized for the template family. The list is non-comprehensive and provides no comparative or site-specific rating.
Maine fire-resistant plant list · Official scoped edition
- ME; partial normalized coverage · 2013-10-23
  Maine Forest Service presents a partial list for landscaping 30-100 feet from a structure. FireApproved publishes only 39 unique exact current/accepted matches plus Rhus typhina from the source's explicit parenthetical; unresolved, abbreviated, misspelled, absent, and duplicate-owner rows remain held.
Wildfire-resistant Landscape Plants for Michigan (Extension Bulletin E2948) · Official scoped edition
- MI; partial normalized coverage · 2007-01-01
  Michigan State University Extension Bulletin E2948 is explicitly a list of wildfire-resistant landscape plants for Michigan and includes a Michigan-native field. FireApproved publishes 221 exact GBIF owners from 226 represented source rows and holds 15 complex or non-exact rows. This dated publication scope is not a current site-suitability determination.
Fire-Resistant Landscaping in North Carolina (AG-874) · Official scoped edition
- NC; complete normalized coverage · 2025-03-26
  The complete three-table AG-874 plant list is explicitly for North Carolina and contains 202 low-, medium-, or high-flammability rows. FireApproved accounts for all source rows under its strict taxonomy and lineage rules; source scope does not establish local suitability at a particular North Carolina site.
Firewise Landscaping (OSU Extension Bulletin 921) · Official scoped edition
- OH; partial normalized coverage · 2006-03-01
  Ohio State University Extension Bulletin 921 is an Ohio publication that describes Ohio fire seasons and landscape conditions and labels nativity to Ohio. FireApproved publishes 352 exact source-owning plant records from its eight rated tables. This historical publication scope does not assert current extension endorsement or that a listed plant suits every Ohio site.
Fire-Resistant Plants for Home Landscapes (PNW 590) · Official scoped edition
- ID, OR, WA; partial normalized coverage · 2023-10-01
  The October 2023 joint Pacific Northwest Extension publication explicitly names Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and publishes more than 150 plant profiles. FireApproved has normalized 155 exact plant records from the source; publication scope does not assert that every listed plant suits every site within the three states.
Virginia Firescapes — Firewise Landscaping for Woodland Homes (430-300) · Official scoped edition
- VA; partial normalized coverage · 2009-04-15
  Virginia Cooperative Extension's publication opens with Virginia wildfire conditions, identifies its Virginia Firewise Landscaping Task Force, and labels plants native to Virginia. FireApproved publishes 306 exact source owners. Publication scope does not establish parcel suitability or current endorsement of this archived 2009 list.
Fire-Resistant Plants for Eastern Washington · Official scoped edition
- Eastern Washington (WA footprint); partial normalized coverage
  Washington DNR publishes the guide for Eastern Washington and says it compiles plants from other Firewise documents that are likely to thrive there. FireApproved publishes 46 exact owners only as eastern Washington context. The rows are corroborative, not empirical or statewide.

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution: Documented in AL, AR, CT, DE, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SD, TN, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV.
Native range: Current cited native range in AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV.
Introduced / established
USDA hardiness: 3 applicable cited hardiness statements overlap but have different boundaries; compare each complete source row.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

Legal-list status
Seed-list status
Reported invasive here
Broader regional context
Federal context

How to read this page

The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.

Native and introduced range evidence

These are exact U.S. botanical-area records from the cited range source. Native and introduced describe biogeographic relationship, not fire performance or planting approval. Doubtful and extinct rows stay visible but do not count as current presence.

Current native

37

exact source areas

Current introduced

0

exact source areas

Qualified

0

doubtful or extinct source rows

37 native source areas · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04

Alabama (AL)
Arkansas (AR)
Connecticut (CT)
District of Columbia (DC)
Delaware (DE)
Georgia (GA)
Iowa (IA)
Illinois (IL)
Indiana (IN)
Kansas (KS)
Kentucky (KY)
Louisiana (LA)
Massachusetts (MA)
Maryland (MD)
Maine (ME)
Michigan (MI)
Minnesota (MN)
Missouri (MO)
Mississippi (MS)
North Carolina (NC)
North Dakota (ND)
Nebraska (NE)
New Hampshire (NH)
New Jersey (NJ)
New York (NY)
Ohio (OH)
Oklahoma (OK)
Pennsylvania (PA)
Rhode I. (RI)
South Carolina (SC)
South Dakota (SD)
Tennessee (TN)
Texas (TX)
Virginia (VA)
Vermont (VT)
Wisconsin (WI)
West Virginia (WV)

The lossless worldwide derivative is retained once in the research corpus; object pages repeat only exact U.S. areas needed by the local lens. The JSON twin carries the same page assertions.

Plant hardiness evidence

These values describe the plant source. Your ZIP zone comes from the separate 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Whole-zone values stay whole-zone, and a single unresolved value is not treated as a tolerance range. Different source boundaries stay separate: overlapping statements are compared independently, while only ranges with no shared zone are called a conflict.

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector · record acer-saccharum · 2016-wayback · as of 2026-08-26

Source prints 4 · single-value meaning unresolved · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Acer saccharum · exact match.

Source location: Cold Hardiness Zone field in the recovered selector record.

Not used for comparison: The recovered selector prints one Cold Hardiness Zone value but does not define it as a minimum threshold or a one-zone range.
Wildfire-resistant Landscape Plants for Michigan (Extension Bulletin E2948) · record tree:Acer saccharum · New, January 2007 · as of 2026-08-26

4–8 explicit range · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Acer saccharum · exact match.

Source location: Table 1, tree row.
Fire-Resistant Plants for Home Landscapes (PNW 590) · record trees:Sugar maple · 2023-10 · as of 2026-08-26

4–8 explicit range · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Acer saccharum · exact match.

Source location: Sugar maple profile, USDA hardiness zones field.
USDA PLANTS Database — Plant Characteristics · record ACSA3 · PLANTS Help Document 2022; characteristics cache retrieved 2026-08-23 · as of 2026-08-26

Minimum 2a · no upper limit documented · half zone precision · derived containing band

Exact source measurement: -47°F; mapped only to its containing half-zone.

Source taxon: Acer saccharum · source identifier match.

Source location: PlantCharacteristics record 92865, Temperature, Minimum (°F).

Where its sources say to plant it

Placement rules below use each source's own distances or named zones, tied to its rating. They are not interchangeable with the directory's current Zone 0 guidance.

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector: Landscape Zone 3 — 10–30 ft from the structure; thin vegetation, remove debris, and minimize plant massing [Fire Performance Plant Selector landscape zone] (mid-scale rating)
Fire-resistant plant profile galleries: Sugar maple — Acer saccharum [osu-2023-trees-gallery] (with its recommendation)
Firewise Landscaping Plants: Deciduous Trees [Maryland Firewise plant-form tables] (with its recommendation)
Maine fire-resistant plant list: Trees, page 1: Sugar maple - Acer saccharum [Maine Forest Service list section and page] (with its recommendation)

The evidence

Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself (a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.

Mid-scale / conditional (1)

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector — USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area S&PF + state Firewise programs (WV, OH, PA, DE, DC, MD, NJ) · 2016-wayback · original source Primary evidence Keyed curation lineage: ufifas-srs-tree

“MODERATELY Firewise (2)”

Not tolerant of pollution or salt in urban environments.

Listed without a rating (18)

Corroboration (18 rows from 1 source)

FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database — Dryad / Global Ecology and Biogeography · Dryad version 9 · original source Corroboration Trait database lineage: meta-aggregator

18 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.
- Primary study Kane2021: Kane, J. M., Kreye, J. K., Barajas-Ramirez, R., & Varner, J. M. (2021). Litter trait driven dampening of flammability following deciduous forest community shifts in eastern North America. Forest Ecology and Management, 489, 119100.
  
  Shared row context: plant part litter; fuel live; predrying yes; device burning bench; site Kane2021-1; sampling spring.
  - Shared measurement context: Combustibility measurement.
    - “flame height (cm): 48.87”
      
      FLAMITS record 5498.
    - “flame height (cm): 60.15”
      
      FLAMITS record 5499.
    - “flame height (cm): 65.15”
      
      FLAMITS record 5500.
  - Shared measurement context: Sustainability measurement.
    - “flaming duration (s): 26.51”
      
      FLAMITS record 5513.
    - “flaming duration (s): 44.59”
      
      FLAMITS record 5514.
    - “flaming duration (s): 48.63”
      
      FLAMITS record 5515.
    - “smouldering duration (s): 178.42”
      
      FLAMITS record 5528.
    - “smouldering duration (s): 175.73”
      
      FLAMITS record 5529.
    - “smouldering duration (s): 132.31”
      
      FLAMITS record 5530.
  - Shared measurement context: Consumability measurement.
    - “burnt biomass (%): 82.63”
      
      FLAMITS record 5543.
    - “burnt biomass (%): 73.27”
      
      FLAMITS record 5544.
    - “burnt biomass (%): 59.7”
      
      FLAMITS record 5545.
- Primary study Shan2008: Shan, Y., Liu, N., & Shu, L. (2008). Flammability ranking of foliage species by factor analysis of physical and chemical pyric properties. Fire and Materials: An International Journal, 32, 371-382.
  
  Shared row context: plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; site Shan2008-1; sampling ND.
  - “temperature at flaming (°C): 268”
    
    FLAMITS record 12588; Ignitability measurement; device ignition temperature tester.
  - “calorific value (kcal/kg): 4747.84”
    
    FLAMITS record 12589; Combustibility measurement; device calorimeter.
- Primary study Kreye2023: Kreye, J. K., Kane, J. M., & Varner, J. M. (2023). Multivariate roles of litter traits on moisture and flammability of temperate northeastern North American tree species. Fire Ecology, 19, 1-12.
  
  Shared row context: plant part litter; fuel live; predrying no; device burning bench; site Kreye2023-1; sampling ND.
  - “flame height (cm): 65”
    
    FLAMITS record 18716; Combustibility measurement.
  - “time to flaming (s): 32”
    
    FLAMITS record 18717; Ignitability measurement.
  - “smouldering duration (s): 170”
    
    FLAMITS record 18718; Sustainability measurement.
  - “burnt biomass (%): 82”
    
    FLAMITS record 18719; Consumability measurement.

Guides that discuss this plant

Last verified 2026-08-23. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

Profiles: USDA PLANTS · GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · Wikipedia · ITIS

Acer saccharum (Sugar maple). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/acer-saccharum/. Last verified 2026-08-23.