United States / Grow / Matagouri

Matagouri (Discaria toumatou)
Photo: (c) Saryu Mae 前 朝琉, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

Matagouri

Discaria toumatou · Rhamnaceae · all Discaria records · also called Tūmatakuru · Wikipedia

View Saved

Is this one for your yard?

Enter your ZIP to see whether this is legal to plant in your state, and whether it survives your winter.

Form
shrub
Region
New Zealand
Rated in
Global; New Zealand
On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence
Mixed evidence — location does not change the cited classification.
Evidence regions
Global; New Zealand

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.

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 (2)

Listed without a rating (18)
Corroboration (18 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

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

    • 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.

      Shared row context: plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Cui2020a-1; sampling ND.

      • “ignition frequency (%): 100”

        FLAMITS record 1381; Ignitability measurement.

      • “maximum sample temperature (°C): 455”

        FLAMITS record 1575; Combustibility measurement.

      • “burning duration (s): 42.8”

        FLAMITS record 1769; Sustainability measurement.

      • “estimated burnt biomass (%): 45.6”

        FLAMITS record 1963; Consumability measurement.

    • 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.

      Shared row context: plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device muffle furnace; site Mason2016-6; sampling summer.

      • Shared measurement context: Ignitability measurement.

        • “temperature at smoke (°C): 207.24”

          FLAMITS record 8373.

        • “temperature at smoke (°C): 246.52”

          FLAMITS record 8374.

        • “temperature at flaming (°C): 454.26”

          FLAMITS record 8588.

        • “temperature at flaming (°C): 420.44”

          FLAMITS record 8589.

      • Shared measurement context: Combustibility measurement.

        • “temperature increase rate (°C/s): 4.99”

          FLAMITS record 8803.

        • “temperature increase rate (°C/s): 6.99”

          FLAMITS record 8804.

    • Primary study Padulles2018: Padullés-Cubino, J., Buckley, H. L., Day, N. J., Pieper, R., & Curran, T. J. (2018). Community-level flammability declines over 25 years of plant invasion in grasslands. Journal of Ecology, 106, 1582-1594.

      Shared row context: plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Padulles2018-1; sampling 1982 to 2007.

      • “time to flaming (s): 2.25”

        FLAMITS record 9979; Ignitability measurement.

      • “maximum sample temperature (°C): 543.25”

        FLAMITS record 10030; Combustibility measurement.

      • “burning duration (s): 86.13”

        FLAMITS record 10081; Sustainability measurement.

      • “estimated burnt biomass (%): 45.88”

        FLAMITS record 10132; Consumability measurement.

    • Primary study Wyse2016: Wyse, S. V., Perry, G. L. W., O'Connell, D. M., Holland, P. S., Wright, M. J., Hosted, C. L., ... Curran, T. J. (2016). A quantitative assessment of shoot flammability for 60 tree and shrub species supports rankings based on expert opinion. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 25, 466-477.

      Shared row context: plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Wyse2016-4; sampling ND.

      • “ignition frequency (%): 100”

        FLAMITS record 14337; Ignitability measurement.

      • “maximum sample temperature (°C): 292”

        FLAMITS record 14397; Combustibility measurement.

      • “burning duration (s): 8.4”

        FLAMITS record 14457; Sustainability measurement.

      • “estimated burnt biomass (%): 45”

        FLAMITS record 14517; Consumability measurement.

Fire-resistant shrubs instead

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

Profiles: GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · Wikipedia ·

Discaria toumatou (Matagouri, Tūmatakuru). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/discaria-toumatou/. Last verified 2026-08-23.