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Cedar is not reliably fire resistant; three sources flag it as a hazard, while Michigan State recommends it.
The City of Ashland prohibits new planting or propagation of Cedrus species within 30 feet of any structure, including one on an adjacent lot. Fire Safe Marin lists cedar as fire-prone in Marin County. The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension also places cedar among Yavapai County’s fire-prone plants, which it says may ignite readily and burn intensely.
Michigan State University Extension reaches the opposite conclusion, listing Cedrus species as wildfire-resistant and recommended for Michigan’s climate. This is a genuine disagreement, but the sources are answering different regional and practical questions. Michigan’s guidance is a recommended plant list, Marin’s is expert-curated local guidance, and Ashland’s finding carries the force of a municipal planting restriction.
No experimental rating or common numerical scale ties these judgments together, so Michigan’s recommendation does not cancel the western warnings. Cedar may be accepted in a Michigan landscape yet treated as fire-prone in parts of California and Arizona, and prohibited near structures in Ashland. For a homeowner, the local rule and local fire guidance should decide the question, especially where planting distance is regulated.
City of Ashland (OR footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2026-08-26
This is a City of Ashland adoption fact, not statewide Oregon guidance or an experimental flammability result. FireApproved publishes 24 taxonomy-safe owners as city-level regulatory context. It applies to new planting and propagation within 30 feet of structures, including structures on adjacent lots; it is not projected as a blanket removal order for every established listed plant.
Marin County (CA footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2019-01-01
The publication is explicitly limited to plants common to Marin County. FireApproved publishes 104 exact owners as Marin regional context while retaining its placement, spacing, irrigation, and maintenance boundary. It is not statewide California guidance or parcel suitability.
Michigan State University Extension Bulletin E2948 is explicitly a list of wildfire-resistant landscape plants for Michigan and includes a Michigan-native field. FireApproved publishes 221 exact GBIF owners from 226 represented source rows and holds 15 complex or non-exact rows. This dated publication scope is not a current site-suitability determination.
Yavapai County (AZ footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2025-03-14
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension authors Bulletin 34 for Yavapai County. FireApproved publishes 198 exact source owners from its resistant and prone tables and keeps the county boundary visible. County publication scope is regional Arizona context, never statewide scope.
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Documented in MI.
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.
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.
Prohibited Flammable Plants: new planting or propagation restricted within 30 ft of any structure [Ashland Municipal Code setback] (with its avoid 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.
Listed as Cedar — Cedrus sp.. The bulletin says fire-resistant plants tend to resist ignition when irrigated and maintained, while fire-prone plants may ignite readily and burn intensely.
