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Kahikatea

Dacrycarpus dacrydioides · Podocarpaceae · also called White pine

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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: Mixed evidence — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions: No test or rating condition is normalized.
Fire ecology context: No section-reviewed fire-ecology context is normalized.
Placement evidence: 0 source placement records; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions: Global; New Zealand
Maintenance: No sourced horticultural maintenance assertion is normalized; fire-test conditions do not supply maintenance advice.

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.

Kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides) — Photo: (c) Jacqui Geux, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

Form: tree
Region: New Zealand; United Kingdom
Rated in: Global; New Zealand
Uses: timber
Family: Podocarpaceae
Evidence: 15 cited sources

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.

Mid-scale / conditional (1)

Low Flammability Plants directory — Fire and Emergency New Zealand (plant flammability testing at Lincoln University) · 2026 · original source Primary evidence Lab-tested lineage: lincoln-nz-tree

“Moderate flammability”

Moderate flammability classification.

Listed without a rating (14)

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

14 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.
- “time to flaming (s): 6.53” · score 6.53 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 604; Ignitability measurement; plant part litter; fuel all; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Belcher2016-1; sampling ND. Primary study Belcher2016: Belcher, C. M. (2016). The influence of leaf morphology on litter flammability and its utility for interpreting palaeofire. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371, 20150163.
- “burning duration (s): 15.18” · score 15.18 (FLAMITS — burning duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 619; Sustainability measurement; plant part litter; fuel all; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Belcher2016-1; sampling ND. Primary study Belcher2016: Belcher, C. M. (2016). The influence of leaf morphology on litter flammability and its utility for interpreting palaeofire. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371, 20150163.
- “maximum energy release rate (kW): 3.01” · score 3.01 (FLAMITS — maximum energy release rate (kW))
  
  FLAMITS record 634; Combustibility measurement; plant part litter; fuel all; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Belcher2016-1; sampling ND. Primary study Belcher2016: Belcher, C. M. (2016). The influence of leaf morphology on litter flammability and its utility for interpreting palaeofire. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371, 20150163.
- “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2547.32” · score 2547.32 (FLAMITS — calorific value (kcal/kg))
  
  FLAMITS record 649; Combustibility measurement; plant part litter; fuel all; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Belcher2016-1; sampling ND. Primary study Belcher2016: Belcher, C. M. (2016). The influence of leaf morphology on litter flammability and its utility for interpreting palaeofire. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371, 20150163.
- “ignition frequency (%): 92.3” · score 92.3 (FLAMITS — ignition frequency (%))
  
  FLAMITS record 1376; Ignitability measurement; plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Cui2020a-1; sampling ND. Primary study Cui2020a: Cui, X., Paterson, A. M., Wyse, S. V., Alam, M. A., Maurin, K. J. L., Pieper, R., ... Curran, T. J. (2020a). Shoot flammability of vascular plants is phylogenetically conserved and related to habitat fire-proneness and growth form. Nature Plants, 6, 355-359.
- “maximum sample temperature (°C): 492.3” · score 492.3 (FLAMITS — maximum sample temperature (°C))
  
  FLAMITS record 1570; Combustibility measurement; plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Cui2020a-1; sampling ND. Primary study Cui2020a: Cui, X., Paterson, A. M., Wyse, S. V., Alam, M. A., Maurin, K. J. L., Pieper, R., ... Curran, T. J. (2020a). Shoot flammability of vascular plants is phylogenetically conserved and related to habitat fire-proneness and growth form. Nature Plants, 6, 355-359.
- “burning duration (s): 16.4” · score 16.4 (FLAMITS — burning duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 1764; Sustainability measurement; plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Cui2020a-1; sampling ND. Primary study Cui2020a: Cui, X., Paterson, A. M., Wyse, S. V., Alam, M. A., Maurin, K. J. L., Pieper, R., ... Curran, T. J. (2020a). Shoot flammability of vascular plants is phylogenetically conserved and related to habitat fire-proneness and growth form. Nature Plants, 6, 355-359.
- “estimated burnt biomass (%): 42.3” · score 42.3 (FLAMITS — estimated burnt biomass (%))
  
  FLAMITS record 1958; Consumability measurement; plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Cui2020a-1; sampling ND. Primary study Cui2020a: Cui, X., Paterson, A. M., Wyse, S. V., Alam, M. A., Maurin, K. J. L., Pieper, R., ... Curran, T. J. (2020a). Shoot flammability of vascular plants is phylogenetically conserved and related to habitat fire-proneness and growth form. Nature Plants, 6, 355-359.
- “temperature at smoke (°C): 130.06” · score 130.06 (FLAMITS — temperature at smoke (°C))
  
  FLAMITS record 8367; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device muffle furnace; site Mason2016-3; sampling summer. Primary study Mason2016: Mason, N. W. H., Frazao, C., Buxton, R. P., & Richardson, S. J. (2016). Fire form and function: evidence for exaptive flammability in the New Zealand flora. Plant Ecology, 217, 645-659.
- “temperature at smoke (°C): 249.34” · score 249.34 (FLAMITS — temperature at smoke (°C))
  
  FLAMITS record 8368; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device muffle furnace; site Mason2016-3; sampling summer. Primary study Mason2016: Mason, N. W. H., Frazao, C., Buxton, R. P., & Richardson, S. J. (2016). Fire form and function: evidence for exaptive flammability in the New Zealand flora. Plant Ecology, 217, 645-659.
- “temperature at flaming (°C): 201.66” · score 201.66 (FLAMITS — temperature at flaming (°C))
  
  FLAMITS record 8582; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device muffle furnace; site Mason2016-3; sampling summer. Primary study Mason2016: Mason, N. W. H., Frazao, C., Buxton, R. P., & Richardson, S. J. (2016). Fire form and function: evidence for exaptive flammability in the New Zealand flora. Plant Ecology, 217, 645-659.
- “temperature at flaming (°C): 306.04” · score 306.04 (FLAMITS — temperature at flaming (°C))
  
  FLAMITS record 8583; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device muffle furnace; site Mason2016-3; sampling summer. Primary study Mason2016: Mason, N. W. H., Frazao, C., Buxton, R. P., & Richardson, S. J. (2016). Fire form and function: evidence for exaptive flammability in the New Zealand flora. Plant Ecology, 217, 645-659.
- “temperature increase rate (°C/s): 14.77” · score 14.77 (FLAMITS — temperature increase rate (°C/s))
  
  FLAMITS record 8797; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device muffle furnace; site Mason2016-3; sampling summer. Primary study Mason2016: Mason, N. W. H., Frazao, C., Buxton, R. P., & Richardson, S. J. (2016). Fire form and function: evidence for exaptive flammability in the New Zealand flora. Plant Ecology, 217, 645-659.
- “temperature increase rate (°C/s): 17.83” · score 17.83 (FLAMITS — temperature increase rate (°C/s))
  
  FLAMITS record 8798; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device muffle furnace; site Mason2016-3; sampling summer. Primary study Mason2016: Mason, N. W. H., Frazao, C., Buxton, R. P., & Richardson, S. J. (2016). Fire form and function: evidence for exaptive flammability in the New Zealand flora. Plant Ecology, 217, 645-659.

Fire-resistant trees instead

Post oak
Quercus stellata

Red oak
Quercus rubra

Gambel Oak
Quercus gambelii

Basswood
Tilia americana

Oak
Quercus spp.

Dahurian larch
Larix gmelinii

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

Profiles: USDA PLANTS · GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · ITIS

Dacrycarpus dacrydioides (Kahikatea, White pine). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/dacrycarpus-dacrydioides/. Last verified 2026-08-23.