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Fendler's ceanothus has mixed fire evidence, with favorable FireWise listings whose recommendations describe planting suitability in particular regions.
New Mexico's Forestry Division lists Ceanothus fendleri as buckbrush or Fendler ceanothus among shrubs. Its 4,000-foot cell is unknown or doubtful. The five higher printed categories, beginning at 5,000 feet and ending at 9,000-plus, are affirmative. The same description specifies moderate water needs, sun, and about two feet of mature height.
Fremont County includes the shrub under buckbrush or mountain lilac. Its Firewise list describes the selected plants collectively as generally low-growing, low in debris, and relatively moist. Those group characteristics should not be mistaken for individual measurements of Fendler's ceanothus.
The listings offer a homeowner useful regional guidance while its fire resistance remains unsettled. In particular, New Mexico gives concrete elevation and growing information to accompany the favorable listing. That recommendation is strongest when read with its uncertain lower-elevation cell, rather than extended to every possible site.
Form
shrub
Rated in
Arizona above 3,000 feet / interior Southwest; Fremont County, Wyoming; New Mexico
On this lot
1. Fire evidence and conditions
Fire evidence
Mixed evidence — location does not change the cited classification.
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.
New Mexico Forestry Division publishes this as its FireWise Plant List for New Mexico. FireApproved accounts for all 140 printed rows and publishes 95 exact same-rank owners already represented in the directory; 29 exact taxa without an existing record, 14 unresolved spellings or higher-rank matches, one compound taxon cell, and one species row whose only apparent owner has an infraspecific printed identity remain held. Every published row retains the source's Y, N, ?, or blank elevation cells. Publication scope does not erase those elevation limits or establish suitability for every New Mexico site.
Arizona at or above 3,000 feet (AZ footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2011-12-01
AZ1289 is explicitly limited to Arizona elevations of 3,000 feet and higher. FireApproved publishes 69 exact owners as regional Arizona context, retaining every water and elevation condition. It is never promoted to statewide low-desert guidance or an independent Tier 1 vote.
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Documented in AZ, CO, NM, SD, TX, UT, WY.
Native range
Current cited native range in AZ, CO, NM, SD, TX, 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.
FireWise Plant List for New Mexico: PDF page 4, Shrubs, p4-r05 [nm-emnrd-firewise-table-row] (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 — Ceanothus fendleri — Buckbrush, Mountain Lilac”
Listed in the source's Shrubs section; the page describes its listed Firewise plants as generally low-growing, low-debris, and relatively moist.
FireWise Plant List for New Mexico — New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, Forestry Division · 2003 Forestry Division PDF · original sourceCorroborationCompilationlineage: csu-nmsu-firewise
“FireWise Plant List for New Mexico”
Listed as Ceanothus fendleri (Buckbrush, Fendler ceanothus) in Shrubs. Printed elevation cells: 4,000 ft=?, 5,000 ft=Y, 6,000 ft=Y, 7,000 ft=Y, 8,000 ft=Y, 9,000+ ft=Y. Water need: M; sun/shade: S; mature height: 2’; approximate bloom: May- Aug.
