United States / Grow / Chilean Acorn

Chilean Acorn (Cryptocarya alba)
Photo: (c) Nicolás Lavandero, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

Chilean Acorn

Cryptocarya alba · Lauraceae · all Cryptocarya records · also called Peumo · Wikipedia

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Is this one for your yard?

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No.

Chilean Acorn is highly flammable, and two laboratory studies place it in their avoid ranges.

The International Journal of Wildland Fire classified it as HHV class 4, “high risk,” on a five-class higher-heating-value scale whose upper two classes mean avoid. The study also reported a mean leaf flash point of 205 °C, though the authors described that figure as having low precision. A separate IJERPH study assigned the highest live-leaf flammability rating, FI 5. All 50 samples ignited, with a mean ignition time of 6.85 seconds.

Dryad’s FLAMITS database stores another measurement from the same 2021 primary study: live, unpredried leaves sampled in summer reached flaming in 6.66 seconds under an epiradiator. FLAMITS preserves measurements from different methods without applying a single threshold, so this value does not classify the species as resistant or hazardous.

These findings concern leaves tested under controlled conditions, not every way a whole tree might behave outdoors. Even within that boundary, the practical conclusion is clear. Both studies that assign risk categories classify Chilean Acorn in their avoid ranges, supporting the advice to keep this tree away from structures.

Fire-resistant trees instead

Form
tree
Region
Chile
Rated in
Global; Peñuelas Lake National Reserve, Valparaíso, Chile
On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence
Highly flammable — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions
1 condition stated in cited fire-evidence rows.
Evidence regions
Global; Peñuelas Lake National Reserve, Valparaíso, Chile

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.

Conditions in the fire evidence

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

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 (2)

Listed without a rating (6)
Corroboration (6 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

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

    • Primary study Guerrero2021: Guerrero, F., Hernández, C., Toledo, M., Espinoza, L., Carrasco, Y., Arriagada, A., ... Carmona, C. (2021). Leaf thermal and chemical properties as natural drivers of plant flammability of native and exotic tree species of the valparaíso region, Chile. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18, 7191.

      Shared row context: plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Guerrero2021-1; sampling summer.

      • Shared measurement context: Ignitability measurement.

        • “time to flaming (s): 6.66”

          FLAMITS record 4616.

        • “ignition frequency (%): 50”

          FLAMITS record 4631.

        • “flammability value: 5”

          FLAMITS record 4636.

      • Shared measurement context: Sustainability measurement.

        • “flaming duration (s): 8.62”

          FLAMITS record 4621.

        • “burning duration (s): 42.58”

          FLAMITS record 4626.

      • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 4989.49”

        FLAMITS record 4641; Combustibility measurement.

Fire-resistant trees instead

Fire-resistant trees listed above

Last verified 2026-08-24. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

Profiles: GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · Wikipedia ·

Cryptocarya alba (Peumo). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/cryptocarya-alba/. Last verified 2026-08-24.