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Deerbrushes
Ceanothuses have a split in fire guidance, with favorable landscape choices, flammable buckbrush and a local planting restriction in Ashland.
The Pacific Northwest extension guide includes prostrate ceanothus (Ceanothus prostratus) and Point Reyes ceanothus (Ceanothus gloriosus) among its fire-resistant choices. The guide calls for healthy plants, appropriate watering and pruning, removal of dead material and spacing between plants. These are maintained-landscape recommendations.
Buckbrush (Ceanothus cuneatus) has a different account in the Forest Service's species review. Its mature canopy is described as very flammable during the dry season when the shrub is dormant. Fire kills the plant, while seeds stored in soil can survive and germinate afterward. That recovery route does not make the standing canopy fire resistant.
Ashland's 2025 prohibited-plants handout names Ceanothus species and says they must not be newly planted or allowed to propagate within 30 feet of a structure, including decks and outbuildings. That is a city-specific planting restriction. Favorable recommendations for named ceanothuses elsewhere do not replace the local rule or the warning for dry-season buckbrush.
Rated as a group: Redroot Ceanothus sp. Documented conflict Disputed 28 sources rate the genus as a
whole. Species evidence never rolls upward into a genus verdict, and genus claims never
override a species record.
› Fire-resistant: 6 species
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New Jersey tea Fire-resistant Ceanothus americanus - Carmel ceanothus Fire-resistant Ceanothus griseus var. horizontalis
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prostrate ceanothus Fire-resistant Ceanothus prostratus -
Point Reyes ceanothus Fire-resistant Ceanothus gloriosus - Ceanothus x pallidus Fire-resistant Ceanothus x pallidus
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Jersey tea Fire-resistant Ceanothus ovatus
Awaiting evidence: 13 species
Scroll for all 13 ↓
- hoaryleaf ceanothus Awaiting evidence Ceanothus crassifolius
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Fendler's ceanothus Awaiting evidence Ceanothus fendleri - blueblossom Awaiting evidence Ceanothus thyrsiflorus
- chaparral whitethorn Awaiting evidence Ceanothus leucodermis
- Mojave ceanothus Awaiting evidence Ceanothus pauciflorus
- Carmel ceanothus Awaiting evidence Ceanothus griseus
- Ceanothus x delilianus Awaiting evidence Ceanothus x delilianus
- maritime ceanothus Awaiting evidence Ceanothus maritimus
- Mason's ceanothus Awaiting evidence Ceanothus masonii
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redstem ceanothus Awaiting evidence Ceanothus sanguineus -
Santa Barbara ceanothus Awaiting evidence Ceanothus impressus - snowbrush ceanothus Awaiting evidence Ceanothus velutinus
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wartleaf ceanothus Awaiting evidence Ceanothus papillosus
About deerbrushes
Directory notes
More about Ceanothus: Wikipedia — external references; not evidence sources.