United States / Grow / Southern Sassafras

Southern Sassafras (Atherosperma moschatum)
Photo: no rights reserved (CC0), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

Southern Sassafras

Atherosperma moschatum · Atherospermataceae · also called Sassafras · Wikipedia

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Form
tree
Region
Australia; Tasmania, Australia
Rated in
Global; Tasmania, Australia
On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence
Mixed evidence — location does not change the cited classification.
Placement evidence
1 source placement record; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions
Global; Tasmania, Australia

2. Why this plant is relevant here

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

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.

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.

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)

Listed without a rating (2)
Corroboration (2 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

    2 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.

    • Primary study Dickinson1985: Dickinson, K. J. M., & Kirkpatrick, J. B. (1985). The flammability and energy content of some important plant-species and fuel components in the forests of Southeastern Tasmania. Journal of Biogeography, 12, 121-134.

      Shared row context: plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Dickinson1985-1; sampling winter.

      • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 4896.74”

        FLAMITS record 2930; Combustibility measurement.

      • “rate of burning spread (cm/s): 0.13”

        FLAMITS record 2943; Sustainability measurement.

Fire-resistant trees instead

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

Profiles: GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · Wikipedia ·

Atherosperma moschatum (Sassafras). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/atherosperma-moschatum/. Last verified 2026-08-23.