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Mediterranean fan palm

Chamaerops humilis · Arecaceae · also called European fan palm

Your local evidence lens

Separate evidence questions, never one approval badge

Set a ZIP to compare this record with state distribution, native range, USDA hardiness, and invasive records.

A genus split is not a placement verdict. Set a ZIP to read the local documented split.

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence: Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions: 1 condition stated in cited fire-evidence rows.
Fire ecology context: No section-reviewed fire-ecology context is normalized.
Placement evidence: 3 source placement records; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions: California; Catalonia, Spain; Global; Tlemcen, western Algeria; Valencia, Spain / western Mediterranean
Maintenance: No sourced horticultural maintenance assertion is normalized; fire-test conditions do not supply maintenance advice.

Typed publication scope: 1 scope across 1 cited fire source

Defensible Space Landscaping in the Urban/Wildland Interface: A Compilation of Fire Performance Ratings of Residential Landscape Plants · Official scoped edition
- CA; partial normalized coverage · 1997-07-01
  The UC Forest Products Laboratory says the guide covers properties of common California landscaping plants and was prepared for California fire agencies. FireApproved publishes 130 exact owners at historical California publication scope. The report is a 1997 compilation, not a current endorsement, site rating, or independent test of every row.

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution: No state distribution is normalized.
Native range: No current cited or legacy state native range is normalized.
Introduced / established: No introduced or established row is normalized; that does not prove native status.
USDA hardiness: No hardiness value is normalized.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

Legal-list status: Set a location for an exact legal-list result; source silence is not clearance.
Seed-list status: Set a location to compare the separate state noxious-weed seed layer.
Reported invasive here: No ecological invasive report is normalized; that does not prove noninvasiveness.
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.

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.

Mediterranean fan palm (Chamaerops humilis) — Photo: (c) Milan Chytrý, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

Form: shrub
Region: Algeria; Italy; Spain; Valencia, Spain
Rated in: California; Catalonia, Spain; Global; Tlemcen, western Algeria +1
Family: Arecaceae
Evidence: 14 cited sources

Conditions in the fire evidence

These describe tested or rated plant material. They are not horticultural maintenance instructions.

green: The fire risk of the plant groupings with Cistus in the area of Tlemcen (Western Algeria) evidence row

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.

Guía de pirojardinería: suitable inside or outside the 25-metre maximum-risk zone [girona-2020-iuf-25m-suitability] (with its recommendation)
The fire risk of the plant groupings with Cistus in the a…: Table 1 [henaoui-2013-fresh-material-flammability] (mid-scale rating)
Defensible Space Landscaping in the Urban/Wildland Interf…: Chapter 4, Landscape Vegetation Database [ucfpl-1997] (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.

Avoids (1)

Defensible Space Landscaping in the Urban/Wildland Interface: A Compilation of Fire Performance Ratings of Residential Landscape Plants — University of California Forest Products Laboratory · Internal Report 36.01.137 (July 1997) · original source Corroboration Compilation lineage: ucfpl-berkeley

“Not recommended by 3 references for use in high fire risk areas.”

1997 Landscape Vegetation Database row: Chamaerops humilis (Mediterranean Fan Palm). Preserved UCFPL transcription marker: U3.

Mid-scale / conditional (1)

The fire risk of the plant groupings with Cistus in the area of Tlemcen (Western Algeria) — European Scientific Journal · European Scientific Journal 9(29) · original source Primary evidence Lab-tested lineage: valette-1990

“Moderate flammability — note 2” · score 2 (henaoui-2013-flammability-note-1-3) · condition: green · original source

Table 1 classifies Chamaerops humilis at flammability note 2; the paper prints its stratum as Shrub.

Listed without a rating (10)

FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database — Dryad / Global Ecology and Biogeography · Dryad version 9 · original source Corroboration Trait database lineage: meta-aggregator

10 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.
- “calorific value (kcal/kg): 4678.99” · score 4678.99 (FLAMITS — calorific value (kcal/kg))
  
  FLAMITS record 3937; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Gillon1997-1; sampling june to september. Primary study Gillon1997: Gillon, D., Hernando, C., Valette, J.-C., & Joffre, R. (1997). Fast estimation of the calorific values of forest fuels by near infrared-reflectance spectroscopy. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 27, 760-765.
- “flame height (cm): 24.96” · score 24.96 (FLAMITS — flame height (cm))
  
  FLAMITS record 4878; Combustibility measurement; plant part twigs; fuel live; predrying yes; device infrared burner; site Henaoui2013-1; sampling spring. Primary study Henaoui2013: Henaoui, S. E. -A., Bouazza, M., & Amara, M. (2013). The fire risk of the plant groupings with Cistus in the area of Tlemcen (Western Algeria). European Scientific Journal, 9, 84-103.
- “time to flaming (s): 69.42” · score 69.42 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 4916; Ignitability measurement; plant part twigs; fuel live; predrying yes; device infrared burner; site Henaoui2013-1; sampling spring. Primary study Henaoui2013: Henaoui, S. E. -A., Bouazza, M., & Amara, M. (2013). The fire risk of the plant groupings with Cistus in the area of Tlemcen (Western Algeria). European Scientific Journal, 9, 84-103.
- “burning duration (s): 129.95” · score 129.95 (FLAMITS — burning duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 4954; Sustainability measurement; plant part twigs; fuel live; predrying yes; device infrared burner; site Henaoui2013-1; sampling spring. Primary study Henaoui2013: Henaoui, S. E. -A., Bouazza, M., & Amara, M. (2013). The fire risk of the plant groupings with Cistus in the area of Tlemcen (Western Algeria). European Scientific Journal, 9, 84-103.
- “time to flaming (s): 17.65” · score 17.65 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 9358; 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.
- “flaming duration (s): 10.33” · score 10.33 (FLAMITS — flaming duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 9372; 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.
- “flame height (cm): 10.05” · score 10.05 (FLAMITS — flame height (cm))
  
  FLAMITS record 9386; 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.
- “flammability value: 1.53” · score 1.53 (FLAMITS — flammability value)
  
  FLAMITS record 9400; 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.
- “time to flaming (s): 13” · score 13 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 10451; Ignitability measurement; plant part twigs; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Pellizzaro2007a-1; sampling october. Primary study Pellizzaro2007a: Pellizzaro, G., Duce, P., Ventura, A., & Zara, P. (2007). Seasonal variations of live moisture content and ignitability in shrubs of the Mediterranean Basin. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 16, 633-641.
- “time to flaming (s): 13” · score 13 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 10452; Ignitability measurement; plant part twigs; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Pellizzaro2007a-1; sampling october. Primary study Pellizzaro2007a: Pellizzaro, G., Duce, P., Ventura, A., & Zara, P. (2007). Seasonal variations of live moisture content and ignitability in shrubs of the Mediterranean Basin. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 16, 633-641.

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

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Chamaerops humilis (Mediterranean fan palm, European fan palm). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/chamaerops-humilis/. Last verified 2026-08-23.