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Golden dewdrops is rated fire resistant overall, but two authorities give conflicting advice about where it belongs.
The Generalitat Valenciana included golden dewdrops among its recommended low-flammability shrubs in 2019. That expert-curated table was prepared for gardens at the wildland-urban edge in Valencia, Spain, and the western Mediterranean. Its recommendation is a planting judgment, not a laboratory measurement.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension in Travis County takes the more cautious position for Austin, Texas. Its compiled guidance names skyflower, Duranta erecta, among plants to avoid within 30 feet of a structure. It says those plants should be restricted to Zones 2 or 3. The source also explains that plants warned against in every zone are highly flammable because of volatile oils or growth habit, but it does not apply that specific explanation to skyflower.
The disagreement may reflect different regions and different purposes. One authority recommends low-flammability plants for Mediterranean interface gardens, while the other sets distance-based landscaping guidance around structures. Golden dewdrops therefore keeps its fire-resistant classification, but that conclusion rests on limited primary evidence. Where the Travis County guidance applies, the broader classification should not be treated as approval to place it within 30 feet of a building.
Form
shrub
Rated in
Austin, Texas; Valencia, Spain / western Mediterranean
On this lot
1. Fire evidence and conditions
Fire evidence
Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Travis County, Austin area (TX footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2024-01-16
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension publishes this page through its Travis County horticulture program. FireApproved publishes 56 exact owners and retains the source's zone and warning conditions. This is county/Austin regional context, not a second statewide Texas table or site clearance.
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Documented in AZ, CA, FL, HI, LA, PR, TX, VI.
Native range
Introduced / established
USDA hardiness
3. Legal, ecological, and broader status
Legal-list status
Seed-list status
Reported invasive here
1 ecological invasive report.
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.
Firewise Landscaping: Small Shrubs [Travis County Firewise page sections] (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.
“Plants to Avoid for Zone 1 (within 30′ of Structure)”
Listed as Skyflower — Duranta erecta. The page says Zone 1 entries should be restricted to zones 2 or 3; all-zone entries are highly flammable due to volatile oils or growth habit.
