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United States / Grow / Lombardy poplar

Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra 'Italica')
Photo: (c) Francesco Santoro, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

Lombardy poplar

Populus nigra 'Italica' (accepted: Populus nigra) · Salicaceae · all Populus records · Wikipedia

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Is this one for your yard?

Enter your ZIP to see whether this is legal to plant in your state, and whether it survives your winter.

Yes, Lombardy poplar is rated fire resistant, with three assessments supporting its use as a lower-flammability tree.

The USDA Forest Service and state Firewise programs give it a Firewise rating of 1, the best of their four ratings. Their description notes its single trunk, short horizontal branches, use as a tall screen and short life. Research published in the International Journal of Wildland Fire also placed its shoots in the low-flammability cluster after samples were air-dried for 24 hours. Valencia’s regional government separately recommends it among low-flammability trees for gardens near wildland.

A separate test measured 22.9 seconds before live leaves began flaming under an epiradiator. The leaves were collected from November through April and were not predried. That figure describes ignition under those test conditions; the database does not set a universal threshold that turns the measurement itself into a recommendation.

Lombardy poplar is a full-sun tree in the willow family, reaching about 40 feet at maturity and requiring high water. It is hardy to USDA zone 5a. Results from the eastern United States, New Zealand research and Mediterranean guidance all point toward the same practical conclusion: Lombardy poplar is a supported fire-resistant choice.

Form
tree
Mature height
~40 ft
Light
Full sun
Water need
high
Rated in
Global; New Zealand; Valencia, Spain / western Mediterranean; eastern US
On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence
Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Placement evidence
1 source placement record; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions
Global; New Zealand; Valencia, Spain / western Mediterranean; eastern US

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution
Documented in AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY.
Introduced / established
1 sourced range or established record. This is not an invasive warning.
USDA hardiness
Documented minimum 4a; no upper limit is documented.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

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.

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.

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.

Recommends (3)

Listed without a rating (16)
Corroboration (16 rows from 1 source)

  • FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database — Dryad / Global Ecology and Biogeography · Dryad version 9 · original source Corroboration Trait database lineage: meta-aggregator

    16 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.

    • Primary study Bianchi2015: Bianchi, L. O., & Defossé, G. E. (2015). Live fuel moisture content and leaf ignition of forest species in Andean Patagonia, Argentina. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 24, 340-348.

      Shared row context: plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Bianchi2015-1; sampling november to april.

      • Shared measurement context: Ignitability measurement.

        • “time to flaming (s): 22.9”

          FLAMITS record 668.

        • “ignition frequency (%): 28.28”

          FLAMITS record 674.

      • “burning duration (s): 3.1”

        FLAMITS record 680; Sustainability measurement.

    • Primary study Bianchi2019: Bianchi, L. O., Oddi, F .J., Muñoz, M., & Defossé, G. E. (2019). Comparison of leaf moisture content and ignition characteristics among native species and exotic conifers in Northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Forest Science, 65, 375-386.

      Shared row context: plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Bianchi2019-1; sampling summer.

      • Shared measurement context: Ignitability measurement.

        • “time to flaming (s): 22.9”

          FLAMITS record 685.

        • “flammability value: 1.2”

          FLAMITS record 721.

        • “ignition frequency (%): 28.28”

          FLAMITS record 739.

      • “burning duration (s): 3.1”

        FLAMITS record 703; Sustainability measurement.

    • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 1719.69”

      FLAMITS record 1118; Combustibility measurement; plant part wood; fuel live; predrying no; device calorimeter; site Cardoso2015-1; sampling summer. Primary study Cardoso2015: Cardoso, M. B., Ladio, A. H., Dutrus, S. M., & Lozada, M. (2015). Preference and calorific value of fuelwood species in rural populations in northwestern Patagonia. Biomass and Bioenergy, 81, 514-520.

    • Primary study Cui2020a: Cui, X., Paterson, A. M., Wyse, S. V., Alam, M. A., Maurin, K. J. L., Pieper, R., ... Curran, T. J. (2020a). Shoot flammability of vascular plants is phylogenetically conserved and related to habitat fire-proneness and growth form. Nature Plants, 6, 355-359.

      Shared row context: plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Cui2020a-1; sampling ND.

      • “ignition frequency (%): 36.8”

        FLAMITS record 1477; Ignitability measurement.

      • “maximum sample temperature (°C): 264.9”

        FLAMITS record 1671; Combustibility measurement.

      • “burning duration (s): 3.3”

        FLAMITS record 1865; Sustainability measurement.

      • “estimated burnt biomass (%): 14.7”

        FLAMITS record 2059; Consumability measurement.

    • Primary study Wyse2016: Wyse, S. V., Perry, G. L. W., O'Connell, D. M., Holland, P. S., Wright, M. J., Hosted, C. L., ... Curran, T. J. (2016). A quantitative assessment of shoot flammability for 60 tree and shrub species supports rankings based on expert opinion. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 25, 466-477.

      Shared row context: plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Wyse2016-3; sampling ND.

      • “ignition frequency (%): 18.5”

        FLAMITS record 14370; Ignitability measurement.

      • “maximum sample temperature (°C): 84.4”

        FLAMITS record 14430; Combustibility measurement.

      • “burning duration (s): 1.7”

        FLAMITS record 14490; Sustainability measurement.

      • “estimated burnt biomass (%): 10”

        FLAMITS record 14550; Consumability measurement.

Same genus in the directory · the Populus group page

Last verified 2026-08-23. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

Profiles: USDA PLANTS · GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · Wikipedia · ITIS

Populus nigra 'Italica' (Lombardy poplar). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/populus-nigra-italica/. Last verified 2026-08-23.