Northeastern and mid-Atlantic study sites (ME, MD, MA, NY, VA footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2007-08-20
The authors collected foliage and twigs across study sites in Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia, then conditioned and tested the samples in a cone calorimeter. FireApproved publishes 37 exact source owners only as multi-state laboratory context. The source does not establish that every taxon was sampled in every named state, whole-plant behavior, landscape suitability, or state planting guidance.
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Documented in AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV.
Native range
No current cited or legacy state native range is normalized.
Introduced / established
46 sourced range or established records; set a location to match them. This is not an invasive warning.
USDA hardiness
Documented minimum 5a; no upper limit is documented.
3. Legal, ecological, and broader status
Legal-list status
8 legal-list records; set a location to match exact scope.
Seed-list status
3 state noxious-weed seed records; set a location to match exact scope.
Reported invasive here
2 ecological invasive reports; set a location to distinguish exact from regional context.
Broader regional context
Aggregate AK, HI, and L48 evidence is shown only as regional context, never as an exact-state finding.
Federal context
Federal designations remain separate from state legal-list results.
Plant-specific legal-list reviews (3)
These source-bound review receipts are separate from ecological invasive reports. A source or plant identity change invalidates a receipt.
IN · Prohibited here. Designated prohibited in the reviewed Indiana 312 IAC 18-3-25 Prohibited Invasive Terrestrial Plants as of 2026-08-26. Authority: Indiana Department of Natural Resources; scope: state; as of 2026-08-26.Official reference.Normalized source record.
OH · Prohibited here. Designated prohibited in the reviewed Ohio OAC 901:5-30-01 Invasive Plant Species as of 2026-08-26. Authority: Ohio Department of Agriculture; scope: state; as of 2026-08-26.Official reference.Normalized source record.
VA · Noxious-listed here. Designated noxious listed in the reviewed Virginia 2VAC5-317 Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 Noxious Weeds as of 2026-08-26. Authority: Virginia Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services; scope: state; as of 2026-08-26.Official reference.Normalized source record.
Plant-specific state seed-list reviews (1)
These source-bound receipts answer only the July 2026 state noxious-weed seed-list question. They do not establish non-seed plant legal status, ecological invasion, nursery-sale rules, or unrestricted use.
AZ · Seed listed here. Prohibited noxious-weed seed in the reviewed state seed sheet as of 2026-08-26. This answers only whether the plant identity appears in the July 2026 state noxious-weed seed sheet. It does not establish non-seed plant legal status, ecological-invasive status, nursery-sale rules, or unrestricted use. Official USDA seed requirements.Normalized source record.
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.
Catalonia, Spain; Córdoba, southern Spain; Global; eastern US +1
Family
Simaroubaceae
Evidence
13 cited sources
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.
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.
Source prints 4 · single-value meaning unresolved · whole zone precision · source stated
Source taxon: Ailanthus altissima · 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.
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 4 — beyond 30 ft; outside the selector's recommendation area [Fire Performance Plant Selector landscape zone] (mid-scale rating)
Guía de pirojardinería: prohibited as a regulated invasive plant; not a fire-suitability verdict [girona-2020-iuf-25m-suitability] (mid-scale rating)
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.
Ailanthus altissima is rated “PROHIBIDA” by the guide's qualitative IUF garden-suitability method. The method assumes species-specific care and integrates fire evidence with fuel structure, maintenance, origin, invasiveness, and expert fire-service experience.
9 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.
“calorific value (kcal/kg): 3511.03”
· score 3511.03 (FLAMITS — calorific value (kcal/kg))
FLAMITS record 2858; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Dibble2007-1; sampling ND. Primary study Dibble2007: Dibble, A. C., White, R. H., & Lebow, P. K. (2007). Combustion characteristics of north-eastern USA vegetation tested in the cone calorimeter: invasive versus non-invasive plants. International journal of wildland fire, 16, 426-443.
“time to flaming (s): 9.89”
· score 9.89 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
FLAMITS record 9290; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Molina2017-1; sampling summer. Primary study Molina2017: Molina, J. R., Martín, T., Rodríguez Y Silva, F., & Herrera, M. Á. (2017). The ignition index based on flammability of vegetation improves planning in the wildland-urban interface: A case study in Southern Spain. Landscape and Urban Planning, 158, 129-138.
FLAMITS record 9308; Sustainability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Molina2017-1; sampling summer. Primary study Molina2017: Molina, J. R., Martín, T., Rodríguez Y Silva, F., & Herrera, M. Á. (2017). The ignition index based on flammability of vegetation improves planning in the wildland-urban interface: A case study in Southern Spain. Landscape and Urban Planning, 158, 129-138.
FLAMITS record 9326; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Molina2017-1; sampling summer. Primary study Molina2017: Molina, J. R., Martín, T., Rodríguez Y Silva, F., & Herrera, M. Á. (2017). The ignition index based on flammability of vegetation improves planning in the wildland-urban interface: A case study in Southern Spain. Landscape and Urban Planning, 158, 129-138.
“time to flaming (s): 18.95”
· score 18.95 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
FLAMITS record 9357; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Molina2019-1; sampling july and september. Primary study Molina2019: Molina, J., Lora, A., Prades, C., & Silva, F. R. (2019). Roadside vegetation planning and conservation: New approach to prevent and mitigate wildfires based on fire ignition potential. Forest ecology and management, 444, 163-173.
FLAMITS record 9371; Sustainability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Molina2019-1; sampling july and september. Primary study Molina2019: Molina, J., Lora, A., Prades, C., & Silva, F. R. (2019). Roadside vegetation planning and conservation: New approach to prevent and mitigate wildfires based on fire ignition potential. Forest ecology and management, 444, 163-173.
FLAMITS record 9385; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Molina2019-1; sampling july and september. Primary study Molina2019: Molina, J., Lora, A., Prades, C., & Silva, F. R. (2019). Roadside vegetation planning and conservation: New approach to prevent and mitigate wildfires based on fire ignition potential. Forest ecology and management, 444, 163-173.
FLAMITS record 9399; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Molina2019-1; sampling july and september. Primary study Molina2019: Molina, J., Lora, A., Prades, C., & Silva, F. R. (2019). Roadside vegetation planning and conservation: New approach to prevent and mitigate wildfires based on fire ignition potential. Forest ecology and management, 444, 163-173.
“calorific value (kcal/kg): 4709.8”
· score 4709.8 (FLAMITS — calorific value (kcal/kg))
FLAMITS record 13727; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Wang2009-1; sampling november. Primary study Wang2009: Wang, X., Niu, S., & Kan, Z. (2009). Properties and flammability of major tree species in the Beijing area. Frontiers of Forestry in China, 4, 304-308.
