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Fire and Emergency New Zealand and a 2016 study place bushy needlewood in moderate-high or high flammability classes.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand places this shrub in the moderate-high band of its seven-level flammability scale. It also includes Hakea sericea on a 2024 list of high-flammability environmental weeds. A 2016 study in the International Journal of Wildland Fire reaches a stronger laboratory verdict, assigning its shoots to the high-flammability category among 60 tested tree and shrub species. The samples were air-dried for 24 hours before testing, and the study’s scale treats that category as a reason to avoid the plant.
A global plant-traits database adds a separate measurement: predried branches tested with a grill had an ignition frequency of 100%. That figure means the prepared branches ignited in every trial included in that experiment. The database preserves measurements made with different devices, plant parts, and methods, but does not turn them into a general recommendation. The two classifications already settle the practical question. Bushy needlewood is a shrub in the Proteaceae family, and its published flammability ratings make it a poor choice near a house or other structure.
Highly flammable — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions
Fire ecology context
Placement evidence
Evidence regions
Global; New Zealand
Maintenance
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Native range
Introduced / established
USDA hardiness
3. Legal, ecological, and broader status
Legal-list status
Seed-list status
Reported invasive here
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.
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)
Low Flammability Plants directory — Fire and Emergency New Zealand (plant flammability testing at Lincoln University) · 2026 · original sourcePrimary evidenceLab-testedlineage: lincoln-nz-tree
“Moderate/high flammability”
Moderate/high flammability classification. On FENZ's high-flammability environmental weeds list (2024 DOC list).
13 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 1403; Ignitability measurement.
“maximum sample temperature (°C): 584.3”
FLAMITS record 1597; Combustibility measurement.
“burning duration (s): 40.5”
FLAMITS record 1791; Sustainability measurement.
“estimated burnt biomass (%): 43.1”
FLAMITS record 1985; Consumability measurement.
“time to flaming (s): 21.57”
FLAMITS record 9684; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device muffle furnace; site Murray2013-1; sampling march to april. Primary study Murray2013: Murray, B. R., Hardstaff, L. K., & Phillips, M. L. (2013). Differences in leaf flammability, leaf traits and flammability-trait relationships between native and exotic plant species of dry sclerophyll forest. PLoS One, 8, e79205.
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 Wyse2016-1; sampling ND.
“ignition frequency (%): 100”
FLAMITS record 14345; Ignitability measurement.
“maximum sample temperature (°C): 584.3”
FLAMITS record 14405; Combustibility measurement.
“burning duration (s): 40.5”
FLAMITS record 14465; Sustainability measurement.
“estimated burnt biomass (%): 43.1”
FLAMITS record 14525; Consumability measurement.
Primary study Murray2023: Murray, B. R., Hawthorne, T., Curran, T. J., Krix, D. W., Wallace, M. I., Young, K., ... & Webb, J. K. (2023). Shoot flammability patterns among plant species of the wildlandurban interface in the fire-prone Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. International Journal of Wildland Fire, Online early.
Shared row context: plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Murray2023-1; sampling ND.
