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Yes, Gunnison’s mariposa lily is rated fire resistant by the balance of the available evidence.
Three sources recommend it, although they reach that conclusion through different kinds of assessment.
Colorado State University Extension and the Colorado State Forest Service give the lily an ignitability score of 8 out of 10. On their scale, scores from 8 through 10 meet the threshold for planting in defensible-space zones 1 and 2. This is the strongest specific result because it places the plant at the source’s stated recommendation cutoff rather than merely including it on a list.
Oregon State University’s extension service also profiles the species among fire-resistant plants suited to Willamette Valley growing conditions. Fremont County Firewise lists it in the ground-cover section of its Firewise plant list, whose selections are described generally as low-growing, low-debris, and relatively moist. Those descriptions apply to the list as a whole, not as separate measurements of this lily.
Gunnison’s mariposa lily is a high-water perennial in the lily family, native across broad parts of the western and central United States. The recommendations come from Oregon, Colorado, and Wyoming, so the conclusion is not tied to a single local list. Its 8-of-10 score and two additional recommendations support treating it as a fire-resistant landscape choice.
Form
perennial
Water need
high
Rated in
Colorado / Rocky Mountain Front Range; Fremont County, Wyoming; Oregon (Willamette Valley)
On this lot
1. Fire evidence and conditions
Fire evidence
Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Colorado State University Extension and the Colorado State Forest Service publish Fact Sheet 6.305 for Colorado's WUI and varied ecosystems. FireApproved exposes all 114 exact source owners at Colorado publication scope while retaining score, elevation, water, and Idaho-carrier lineage. Publication scope is not suitability for every Colorado site or zone.
Fremont County (WY footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2011-02-25
The source identifies itself as the Fremont County Firewise Plant List. FireApproved publishes its 92 exact source owners as Fremont County regional context. No methodology, current county endorsement, statewide Wyoming scope, or site-specific suitability is inferred.
Willamette Valley (OR footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2015-02-01
OSU Extension says EM 9103 highlights fire-resistant plants that thrive under Willamette Valley growing conditions. FireApproved publishes 172 exact owners only as valley context. The guide shares the PNW 590 lineage and is not a second independent vote or statewide site clearance.
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Documented in AZ, CO, MT, NE, NM, SD, UT, WY.
Native range
Current cited native range in AZ, CO, MT, NM, SD, UT, WY.
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.
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.
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.
Fire-resistant Landscape Plants for the Willamette Valley: Mariposa Lily profile (PDF page 65) [osu-em-9103-profile] (with its recommendation)
Ignition-Resistant Landscape Plants: suitable for defensible-space zones 1-2 (score 8+) [CSU defensible-space zone] (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.
“Fremont County Firewise Plant List — Calochortus gunnisonii — Mariposa Lily”
Listed in the source's Ground Covers section; the page describes its listed Firewise plants as generally low-growing, low-debris, and relatively moist.
