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Queensland kauri’s measured burning result does not establish that it is fire resistant.
For this tree, Agathis robusta of the Araucariaceae family, the useful distinction is between how much test material burned and how a living tree would behave in a fire. The measurement addresses the first question without settling the second.
The FLAMITS database, published by Dryad / Global Ecology and Biogeography, reports an estimated burnt biomass of 67% for predried branches tested on a grill in a 2022 study. This measures consumability: the share of biomass consumed during burning. It is not a percentage chance of catching fire, nor a prediction that the same proportion of a living tree would burn. The drying, plant part and test device belong with the result because they describe what was actually measured.
FLAMITS brings together several dimensions of flammability and retains the experimental context without imposing a single rating threshold across unlike measurements. That makes this finding useful for understanding branch consumption under the test conditions, but it does not turn the percentage into a fire resistance grade. A homeowner choosing Queensland kauri should treat its fire resistance as unresolved; this burning measurement alone cannot justify choosing it for that quality.
Form
tree
Rated in
Global
On this lot
1. Fire evidence and conditions
Fire evidence
Mixed evidence — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions
Fire ecology context
Placement evidence
Evidence regions
Global
Maintenance
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Documented in PR.
Native range
Introduced / established
USDA hardiness
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.
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.
Listed without a rating (5)Corroboration (5 rows from 1 source)
5 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.
Primary study Potts2022: Potts, E., Tng, D., Apgaua, D., Curran, T. J., Engert, J., & Laurance, S. G. (2022). Growth form and functional traits influence the shoot flammability of tropical rainforest species. Forest Ecology and Management, 522, 120485.
Shared row context: plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Potts2022-1; sampling ND.
“estimated burnt biomass (%): 67”
FLAMITS record 14925; Consumability measurement.
“burning duration (s): 61.57”
FLAMITS record 15049; Sustainability measurement.
“maximum sample temperature (°C): 727.3”
FLAMITS record 15173; Combustibility measurement.
Primary study Zhang2022: Zhang, S., Cornwell, W. K., Zhao, W., van Logtestijn, R. S., Krab, E. J., Aerts, R., & Cornelissen, J. H. (2022). Experimental evidence that leaf litter decomposability and flammability are decoupled across gymnosperm species. Journal of Ecology, 111, 761-772.
Shared row context: plant part leaves; fuel all; predrying yes; device burning bench; site Zhang2022-1; sampling january and march 2011.
