No sourced horticultural maintenance assertion is normalized; fire-test conditions do not supply maintenance advice.
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Documented in AZ, CA, CO, FL, HI, KY, LA, NM, OR, TN.
Native range
No current cited or legacy state native range is normalized.
Introduced / established
No introduced or established row is normalized; that does not prove native status.
USDA hardiness
Documented minimum 8b; no upper limit is documented.
3. Legal, ecological, and broader status
Legal-list status
1 legal-list record; set a location to match exact scope.
Seed-list status
3 state noxious-weed seed records; set a location to match exact scope.
Reported invasive here
2 ecological invasive reports; set a location to distinguish exact from regional context.
Broader regional context
Aggregate AK, HI, and L48 evidence is shown only as regional context, never as an exact-state finding.
Federal context
Federal designations remain separate from state legal-list results.
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.
Form
perennial
USDA hardiness
Minimum 8b; upper limit not documented
Mature height
~3.5 ft
Water need
low
Grows in
AZ, CA, CO, FL, HI, KY, LA, NM +2
Rated in
Catalonia, Spain; Global
Family
Poaceae
Evidence
7 cited sources
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.
Source location: PlantCharacteristics record 24645, Temperature, Minimum (°F).
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.
Guía de pirojardinería: prohibited as a regulated invasive plant; not a fire-suitability verdict [girona-2020-iuf-25m-suitability] (mid-scale 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.
Pennisetum setaceum is rated “PROHIBIDA” by the guide's qualitative IUF garden-suitability method. The method assumes species-specific care and integrates fire evidence with fuel structure, maintenance, origin, invasiveness, and expert fire-service experience.
6 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.
“time to flaming (s): 3.96”
· score 3.96 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
FLAMITS record 12770; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Simpson2016-1; sampling july. Primary study Simpson2016: Simpson, K. J., Ripley, B. S., Christin, P. A., Belcher, C. M., Lehmann, C. E., Thomas, G. H., & Osborne, C P. (2016). Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species. Journal of Ecology, 104, 138-148.
“time to flaming (s): 1.41”
· score 1.41 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
FLAMITS record 12771; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device epiradiator; site Simpson2016-1; sampling july. Primary study Simpson2016: Simpson, K. J., Ripley, B. S., Christin, P. A., Belcher, C. M., Lehmann, C. E., Thomas, G. H., & Osborne, C P. (2016). Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species. Journal of Ecology, 104, 138-148.
“mass loss rate (g/s): 0.03”
· score 0.03 (FLAMITS — mass loss rate (g/s))
FLAMITS record 12824; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Simpson2016-1; sampling july. Primary study Simpson2016: Simpson, K. J., Ripley, B. S., Christin, P. A., Belcher, C. M., Lehmann, C. E., Thomas, G. H., & Osborne, C P. (2016). Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species. Journal of Ecology, 104, 138-148.
“mass loss rate (g/s): 0.04”
· score 0.04 (FLAMITS — mass loss rate (g/s))
FLAMITS record 12825; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device epiradiator; site Simpson2016-1; sampling july. Primary study Simpson2016: Simpson, K. J., Ripley, B. S., Christin, P. A., Belcher, C. M., Lehmann, C. E., Thomas, G. H., & Osborne, C P. (2016). Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species. Journal of Ecology, 104, 138-148.
FLAMITS record 12872; Sustainability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Simpson2016-1; sampling july. Primary study Simpson2016: Simpson, K. J., Ripley, B. S., Christin, P. A., Belcher, C. M., Lehmann, C. E., Thomas, G. H., & Osborne, C P. (2016). Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species. Journal of Ecology, 104, 138-148.
FLAMITS record 12873; Sustainability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device epiradiator; site Simpson2016-1; sampling july. Primary study Simpson2016: Simpson, K. J., Ripley, B. S., Christin, P. A., Belcher, C. M., Lehmann, C. E., Thomas, G. H., & Osborne, C P. (2016). Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species. Journal of Ecology, 104, 138-148.
