FireApproved

United States / Grow / Japanese larch

Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi)
Photo: (c) Richard Littauer, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

Japanese larch

Larix kaempferi · Pinaceae · all Larix records · Wikipedia

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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
tree
Mature height
~98 ft
Water need
moderate
Rated in
Global; southern Idaho / Intermountain
On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence
Mixed evidence — location does not change the cited classification.
Placement evidence
1 source placement record; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions
Global; southern Idaho / Intermountain
Typed publication scope: 1 scope across 1 cited fire source
  • Fire Resistance of Plants Master Database · Official scoped edition
    • Southern Idaho (ID footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2013-11-08

      The official database labels itself "For Southern Idaho" and describes Idaho residents at the urban-rangeland interface. FireApproved publishes 419 existing plant owners that cite its scored rows. This bounded Southern Idaho scope is regional context, not statewide coverage or a conclusion that the score transfers unchanged to every Idaho site.

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution
Documented in ID, NJ, NY, PA.
Introduced / established
2 sourced range or established records. This is not an invasive warning.
USDA hardiness
Documented minimum 3a; no upper limit is documented.

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.

Native and introduced range evidence

These are exact U.S. botanical-area records from the cited range source. Native and introduced describe biogeographic relationship, not fire performance or planting approval. Doubtful and extinct rows stay visible but do not count as current presence.

Current native

0

exact source areas

Current introduced

1

exact source area

Qualified

0

doubtful or extinct source rows

1 introduced source area · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04
  • New York (NY)

The lossless worldwide derivative is retained once in the research corpus; object pages repeat only exact U.S. areas needed by the local lens. The JSON twin carries the same page assertions.

Plant hardiness evidence

These values describe the plant source. Your ZIP zone comes from the separate 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Whole-zone values stay whole-zone, and a single unresolved value is not treated as a tolerance range. Different source boundaries stay separate: overlapping statements are compared independently, while only ranges with no shared zone are called a conflict.

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.

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)

Listed without a rating (54)
Corroboration (54 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

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

    • Primary study Kim1994: Kim, K., Jang, I., & Kim, S. (1994). Moisture content of litter layer and its combustibility by cigarette light in forests. Korean Journal of Ecology (Korea Republic), 17, 1-9.

      Shared row context: Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device burning bench; site Kim1994-1; sampling ND.

      • “time to flaming (s): 4.48”

        FLAMITS record 5684.

      • “time to flaming (s): 6.28”

        FLAMITS record 5691.

    • Primary study Seo2016: Seo, H.J., Park, J.-E., & Son, D.W. (2016). Combustion and thermal characteristics of Korean wood species. BioResources, 11, 7537-7550.

      Shared row context: plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Seo2016-1; sampling ND.

      • Shared measurement context: Combustibility measurement.

        • “maximum energy flux (kW/m²): 158.41”

          FLAMITS record 12383.

        • “total heat release (MJ/m²): 79.53”

          FLAMITS record 12384.

      • “time to flaming (s): 18”

        FLAMITS record 12385; Ignitability measurement.

      • “burnt biomass (%): 96.61”

        FLAMITS record 12386; Consumability measurement.

    • Primary study Zhao2018: Zhao, W., van Logtestijn, R. S., van der Werf, G. R., van Hal, J. R., & Cornelissen, J. H. (2018). Disentangling effects of key coarse woody debris fuel properties on its combustion, consumption and carbon gas emissions during experimental laboratory fire. Forest ecology and management, 427, 275-288.

      Shared row context: plant part litter; fuel all; predrying yes; device burning bench; site Zhao2018-2; sampling november and december.

      • Shared measurement context: Ignitability measurement.

        • “time to flaming (s): 1.61”

          FLAMITS record 14668.

        • “time to flaming (s): 1.52”

          FLAMITS record 14669.

        • “time to flaming (s): 1.45”

          FLAMITS record 14670.

        • “time to flaming (s): 1.67”

          FLAMITS record 14701.

        • “time to flaming (s): 1.69”

          FLAMITS record 14702.

        • “time to flaming (s): 1.53”

          FLAMITS record 14703.

        • “time to flaming (s): 2.19”

          FLAMITS record 14704.

        • “time to flaming (s): 1.82”

          FLAMITS record 14705.

        • “time to flaming (s): 1.71”

          FLAMITS record 14706.

      • Shared measurement context: Combustibility measurement.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 511.62”

          FLAMITS record 14680.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 624.23”

          FLAMITS record 14681.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 710.7”

          FLAMITS record 14682.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 597.14”

          FLAMITS record 14713.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 649.78”

          FLAMITS record 14714.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 605.75”

          FLAMITS record 14715.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 543.94”

          FLAMITS record 14716.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 606.41”

          FLAMITS record 14717.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 645.89”

          FLAMITS record 14718.

      • Shared measurement context: Sustainability measurement.

        • “flaming duration (s): 224.06”

          FLAMITS record 14692.

        • “flaming duration (s): 248.93”

          FLAMITS record 14693.

        • “flaming duration (s): 412.89”

          FLAMITS record 14694.

        • “flaming duration (s): 2.3”

          FLAMITS record 14725.

        • “flaming duration (s): 2.4”

          FLAMITS record 14726.

        • “flaming duration (s): 2.43”

          FLAMITS record 14727.

        • “flaming duration (s): 1.26”

          FLAMITS record 14728.

        • “flaming duration (s): 1.37”

          FLAMITS record 14729.

        • “flaming duration (s): 2.24”

          FLAMITS record 14730.

    • Primary study Zhao2019: Zhao, W., van Logtestijn, R. S., van Hal, J. R., Dong, M., & Cornelissen, J. H. (2019). Non-additive effects of leaf and twig mixtures from different tree species on experimental litter-bed flammability. Plant and Soil, 436, 311-324.

      Shared row context: fuel live; predrying yes; device burning bench; site Zhao2019-1; sampling november.

      • “burning duration (s): 41.89”

        FLAMITS record 14743; Sustainability measurement; plant part leaves.

      • “burning duration (s): 420.34”

        FLAMITS record 14744; Sustainability measurement; plant part twigs.

      • Shared measurement context: Consumability measurement; plant part leaves.

        • “burnt biomass (%): 97”

          FLAMITS record 14751.

        • “burnt biomass (%): 99.97”

          FLAMITS record 14759.

      • Shared measurement context: Consumability measurement; plant part twigs.

        • “burnt biomass (%): 5”

          FLAMITS record 14752.

        • “burnt biomass (%): 99.04”

          FLAMITS record 14760.

    • Primary study Harada2001: Harada, T. (2001). Time to ignition, heat release rate and fire endurance time of wood in cone calorimeter test. Fire Materials, 25, 161–7.

      Shared row context: plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Harada2001-1; sampling ND.

      • Shared measurement context: Ignitability measurement.

        • “time to flaming (s): 64”

          FLAMITS record 18843.

        • “time to flaming (s): 22”

          FLAMITS record 18844.

        • “time to flaming (s): 16”

          FLAMITS record 18845.

        • “time to flaming (s): 13”

          FLAMITS record 18846.

        • “time to flaming (s): 18”

          FLAMITS record 18847.

      • Shared measurement context: Combustibility measurement.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 7.4”

          FLAMITS record 18958.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 8.7”

          FLAMITS record 18959.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 9.2”

          FLAMITS record 18960.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 8.7”

          FLAMITS record 18961.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 8.6”

          FLAMITS record 18962.

        • “energy flux (kW/m²): 83”

          FLAMITS record 19073.

        • “energy flux (kW/m²): 93”

          FLAMITS record 19074.

        • “energy flux (kW/m²): 103”

          FLAMITS record 19075.

        • “energy flux (kW/m²): 101”

          FLAMITS record 19076.

        • “energy flux (kW/m²): 106”

          FLAMITS record 19077.

Fire-resistant trees instead

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Cotinus coggygria
Same genus in the directory · the Larix group page

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

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

Larix kaempferi (Japanese Larch). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/larix-kaempferi/. Last verified 2026-08-23.