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Bayberry is not fire resistant; guidance supports keeping Morella away from structures.
The University of Florida IFAS Extension and Florida Division of Forestry advise removing wax myrtle within 30 feet of a home. They give a specific reason: the plants contain resins, oils, and waxes that burn readily. The wax myrtle label supports identification at the Morella genus level rather than limiting the advice to one named species.
The South Carolina Forestry Commission makes a separate, stronger classification. It places wax myrtle among highly flammable plants, which it defines as plants that ignite faster and burn readily. On the commission’s scale, less-flammable plants have some fire resistance; wax myrtle is not in that category. Florida supplies the removal distance and its reason, while South Carolina supplies the highly flammable classification.
Bayberry is a shrub in the Myricaceae family. For choosing plants near a structure, the practical result is clear: treat bayberry as highly flammable and avoid placing it close to the home. Where the Florida guidance applies, follow its 30-foot removal instruction.
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.
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.
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 in Florida with Fire in Mind: within 30 feet of the home [ufifas-for71-defensible-space] (with its avoid rating)
Landscaping Can Be Attractive & FIREWISE: SHRUBS [SCFC Fire Smart plant-form 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.
The source says to remove wax myrtle within 30 feet of the home because the plants contain resins, oils, and waxes that burn readily. This record preserves only the exact genus-level identity supported by that label.
