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Yes, sidebells penstemon is rated fire resistant, although the supporting primary evidence is limited.
Colorado State University Extension and the Colorado State Forest Service give sidebells penstemon an ignitability score of 8 out of 10. Their scale reserves defensible-space zones 1 and 2 for plants scoring 8, 9, or 10. The plant therefore meets that standard, but at the lowest qualifying score.
Fremont County Firewise also lists sidebells penstemon among its Firewise ground covers. The county generally describes the plants on its list as low-growing, low in debris, and relatively moist. This compiled source has no comparative classes or adverse list, so it adds agreement rather than a second numerical rating.
Sidebells penstemon is a low-water perennial in the Plantaginaceae family, native in the northwestern and south-central United States. The practical case for calling it fire resistant comes from two favorable findings with different strengths: a score that just clears Colorado State’s threshold and a county Firewise listing. That is enough to support the classification, while the limited primary evidence argues against treating it as a guarantee of safety.
Form
perennial
Water need
low
Rated in
Colorado / Rocky Mountain Front Range; Fremont County, Wyoming
On this lot
1. Fire evidence and conditions
Fire evidence
Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Colorado State University Extension and the Colorado State Forest Service publish Fact Sheet 6.305 for Colorado's WUI and varied ecosystems. FireApproved exposes all 114 exact source owners at Colorado publication scope while retaining score, elevation, water, and Idaho-carrier lineage. Publication scope is not suitability for every Colorado site or zone.
Fremont County (WY footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2011-02-25
The source identifies itself as the Fremont County Firewise Plant List. FireApproved publishes its 92 exact source owners as Fremont County regional context. No methodology, current county endorsement, statewide Wyoming scope, or site-specific suitability is inferred.
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Documented in CO, NM, WY.
Native range
Current cited native range in CO, NM, WY.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ignition-Resistant Landscape Plants: suitable for defensible-space zones 1-2 (score 8+) [CSU defensible-space zone] (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.
“Fremont County Firewise Plant List — Penstemon seqndiflorus — Sidebells”
Listed in the source's Ground Covers section; the page describes its listed Firewise plants as generally low-growing, low-debris, and relatively moist.
