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Lilyturf shows some fire resistance, but its ratings stop short of one clear, unqualified verdict.
The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension classifies lilyturf as fire resistant, while stressing that plants in this category are not fireproof and tend to resist ignition only when irrigated and maintained. That is the stronger of the two findings, but it comes with clear care conditions.
The South Carolina Forestry Commission uses more cautious language. It places Liriope among less flammable plants with some fire resistance, distinguishing them from highly flammable plants that ignite faster and burn readily. The two sources therefore lean the same way but do not make equally strong claims: Arizona calls maintained lilyturf fire resistant, while South Carolina says it has some resistance.
Lilyturf is a groundcover in the asparagus family. For landscaping purposes, it is reasonable to treat it as a potentially fire-resistant choice when it receives the irrigation and maintenance specified by Arizona, but not as a plant that cannot ignite or burn. South Carolina’s wording reinforces that restraint: “less flammable” is a relative rating, not a promise of safety.
Form
groundcover
Rated in
South Carolina; Yavapai County, Arizona
On this lot
1. Fire evidence and conditions
Fire evidence
Mixed evidence — location does not change the cited classification.
South Carolina Forestry Commission publishes this explicitly as its Fire Smart Plant List for South Carolina. FireApproved publishes 63 exact genus owners from 72 unique common-name labels; unsafe common-name mappings and duplicates are not broadened. The brochure calls the list non-inclusive and does not establish species-level or site-specific suitability.
Yavapai County (AZ footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2025-03-14
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension authors Bulletin 34 for Yavapai County. FireApproved publishes 198 exact source owners from its resistant and prone tables and keeps the county boundary visible. County publication scope is regional Arizona context, never statewide scope.
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Documented in AZ.
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.
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.
Landscaping Can Be Attractive & FIREWISE: SHRUBS [SCFC Fire Smart plant-form sections] (with its recommendation)
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.
Listed as Lilyturf — Liriope sp.. The bulletin says fire-resistant plants tend to resist ignition when irrigated and maintained, while fire-prone plants may ignite readily and burn intensely.
