Pennisetum setaceum (accepted: Cenchrus setaceus) · Poaceae · all Pennisetum records · also called Hierba penacho, Cua de rabosa · syn. Pennisetum setaceum · Wikipedia
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Crimson fountaingrass has mixed evidence for fire-resistant planting: a Catalan prohibition concerns invasiveness, while a leaf test measures ignition.
The 2020 Girona pirojardinería guide identifies Pennisetum setaceum as PROHIBIDA, or prohibited. Its method assigns that outcome to a regulated invasive plant. The prohibition concerns planting under that guide's Catalan context; it is not a grade for how readily the grass burns. Species-specific care does not convert this prohibited category into a recommendation.
The leaf evidence concerns ignition under laboratory conditions. FLAMITS describes live leaves that were tested with an epiradiator without being dried beforehand. An observation of when leaves begin flaming does not establish how an entire garden planting will behave or classify this grass as fire resistant.
These findings answer different parts of the planting decision. The leaf observation cannot supply a favorable fire-resistance verdict or set aside the guide's dated invasive-plant prohibition.
Form
perennial
Mature height
~3.5 ft
Water need
low
Rated in
Catalonia, Spain; Global
On this lot
1. Fire evidence and conditions
Fire evidence
Mixed evidence — location does not change the cited classification.
Documented in AZ, CA, CO, FL, HI, KY, LA, NM, OR, TN.
Native range
Introduced / established
USDA hardiness
Documented minimum 8b; no upper limit is documented.
3. Legal, ecological, and broader status
Legal-list status
1 legal-list record; the Place chip matches exact scope.
Seed-list status
3 state noxious-weed seed records; the Place chip matches exact scope.
Reported invasive here
2 ecological invasive reports.
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.
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.
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.
Shared row context: plant part leaves; fuel live; device epiradiator; site Simpson2016-1; sampling july.
“time to flaming (s): 3.96”
FLAMITS record 12770; Ignitability measurement; predrying no.
“time to flaming (s): 1.41”
FLAMITS record 12771; Ignitability measurement; predrying yes.
“mass loss rate (g/s): 0.03”
FLAMITS record 12824; Combustibility measurement; predrying no.
“mass loss rate (g/s): 0.04”
FLAMITS record 12825; Combustibility measurement; predrying yes.
“flaming duration (s): 6.02”
FLAMITS record 12872; Sustainability measurement; predrying no.
“flaming duration (s): 5.25”
FLAMITS record 12873; Sustainability measurement; predrying yes.
