black cherry

Prunus serotina · Rosaceae · all Prunus records · also called Wild black cherry · Wikipedia

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Black cherry is rated fire resistant, with six forestry and extension sources placing it in favorable flammability categories.

The ratings use different scales but agree. The USDA Forest Service and state Firewise programs give black cherry a Firewise rating of 1, the most favorable of four levels. NC State’s 2005 guidance rates it low on a four-level scale, and its 2025 guidance again calls it low flammability on a three-level scale. Ohio State University Extension assigns it L, the second-lowest band on its five-point scale. On Virginia Cooperative Extension and Virginia Tech’s three-point scale, black cherry receives the lowest flammability grade, L. A Firewise listing from the University of Tennessee Extension adds to that agreement.

Full sun and moderate water suit black cherry, a tree that reaches about 50 feet at maturity. It belongs to the rose family and is native in the Southeastern, Southwestern, Northwestern, and Northeastern United States. Its favorable fire ratings do not erase other placement concerns. The USDA-backed selector and Ohio State specifically caution that wilted foliage is poisonous to livestock. Virginia’s guidance says the tree can become invasive and is poisonous to livestock. Those cautions matter around grazing animals, but they do not change the clear agreement on low flammability.

Form: tree
Mature height: ~50 ft
Light: Full sun
Water need: moderate
Rated in: Arkansas; Georgetown, Texas; Global; Maine +8

On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence: Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions: 1 condition stated in cited fire-evidence rows.
Fire ecology context
Placement evidence: 6 source placement records; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions: Arkansas; Georgetown, Texas; Global; Maine; Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia; NC; North Carolina; North Carolina / southeastern US; Ohio / Midwest; Tennessee; Virginia / Mid-Atlantic; eastern US
Maintenance

Typed publication scope: 9 scopes across 7 cited fire sources

Firewise Landscaping Plants (Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia editions) · Official scoped edition
- MD; partial normalized coverage · 2015-01-08
  Maryland Forest Service says the list contains plants that can be grown in Maryland and identifies Maryland natives. FireApproved publishes 169 exact source owners from the 180 printed rows; an unrepresentable form and duplicate-owner rows are not broadened. The list calls itself non-comprehensive and does not establish suitability for every Maryland site.
- NJ; partial normalized coverage
  New Jersey DEP publishes a state edition saying the listed plants can be grown in New Jersey and are relatively resistant to fire. Its same 180 printed taxon occurrences map to the 169 conservative owners already normalized for the template family. The list is non-comprehensive and does not establish suitability for every New Jersey site or override the Pinelands Commission's separate placement and fuel-break rules.
- WV; partial normalized coverage · 2026-08-26
  West Virginia Division of Forestry publishes a state edition saying the listed plants can be grown in West Virginia and are relatively resistant to fire. Its same 180 printed taxon occurrences map to the 169 conservative owners already normalized for the template family. The list is non-comprehensive and provides no comparative or site-specific rating.
Maine fire-resistant plant list · Official scoped edition
- ME; partial normalized coverage · 2013-10-23
  Maine Forest Service presents a partial list for landscaping 30-100 feet from a structure. FireApproved publishes only 39 unique exact current/accepted matches plus Rhus typhina from the source's explicit parenthetical; unresolved, abbreviated, misspelled, absent, and duplicate-owner rows remain held.
Fire-Resistant Landscaping in North Carolina (AG-874) · Official scoped edition
- NC; complete normalized coverage · 2025-03-26
  The complete three-table AG-874 plant list is explicitly for North Carolina and contains 202 low-, medium-, or high-flammability rows. FireApproved accounts for all source rows under its strict taxonomy and lineage rules; source scope does not establish local suitability at a particular North Carolina site.
Firewise Landscaping (OSU Extension Bulletin 921) · Official scoped edition
- OH; partial normalized coverage · 2006-03-01
  Ohio State University Extension Bulletin 921 is an Ohio publication that describes Ohio fire seasons and landscape conditions and labels nativity to Ohio. FireApproved publishes 352 exact source-owning plant records from its eight rated tables. This historical publication scope does not assert current extension endorsement or that a listed plant suits every Ohio site.
Firewise Plant Guide · Official scoped edition
- Sun City Texas, Georgetown (TX footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2015-01-14
  The guide is authored for the Sun City Texas community in Georgetown. FireApproved publishes 142 exact owners only as community-level context. It is an archived HOA exhibit with unknown rating lineage, not a current statewide Texas source or an independent Tier 1 determination.
Landscaping Guidelines to Protect Your Home from Wildfire (SP685) · Official scoped edition
- TN; partial normalized coverage · 2006-10-24
  University of Tennessee Extension SP685 is Tennessee landscape guidance and publishes 78 represented plant owners. Most table rows are a carrier of Virginia Firescapes rather than an independent rating; Tennessee source scope does not change that lineage or establish site suitability.
Virginia Firescapes — Firewise Landscaping for Woodland Homes (430-300) · Official scoped edition
- VA; partial normalized coverage · 2009-04-15
  Virginia Cooperative Extension's publication opens with Virginia wildfire conditions, identifies its Virginia Firewise Landscaping Task Force, and labels plants native to Virginia. FireApproved publishes 306 exact source owners. Publication scope does not establish parcel suitability or current endorsement of this archived 2009 list.

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution: Documented in AL, AR, AZ, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV.
Native range: Current cited native range in AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV.
Introduced / established
USDA hardiness: Documented minimum 3b; no upper limit is documented.

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.

Current native

40

exact source areas

Current introduced

0

exact source areas

Qualified

0

doubtful or extinct source rows

40 native source areas · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04

Alabama (AL)
Arkansas (AR)
Arizona (AZ)
Colorado (CO)
Connecticut (CT)
District of Columbia (DC)
Delaware (DE)
Florida (FL)
Georgia (GA)
Iowa (IA)
Illinois (IL)
Indiana (IN)
Kansas (KS)
Kentucky (KY)
Louisiana (LA)
Massachusetts (MA)
Maryland (MD)
Maine (ME)
Michigan (MI)
Minnesota (MN)
Missouri (MO)
Mississippi (MS)
North Carolina (NC)
Nebraska (NE)
New Hampshire (NH)
New Jersey (NJ)
New Mexico (NM)
New York (NY)
Ohio (OH)
Oklahoma (OK)
Pennsylvania (PA)
Rhode I. (RI)
South Carolina (SC)
Tennessee (TN)
Texas (TX)
Virginia (VA)
Vermont (VT)
Washington (WA)
Wisconsin (WI)
West Virginia (WV)

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.

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.

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector · record prunus-serotina · 2016-wayback · as of 2026-08-26

Source prints 5 · single-value meaning unresolved · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Prunus serotina · exact match.

Source location: Cold Hardiness Zone field in the recovered selector record.

Not used for comparison: The recovered selector prints one Cold Hardiness Zone value but does not define it as a minimum threshold or a one-zone range.
USDA PLANTS Database — Plant Characteristics · record PRSE2 · PLANTS Help Document 2022; characteristics cache retrieved 2026-08-23 · as of 2026-08-26

Minimum 3b · no upper limit documented · half zone precision · derived containing band

Exact source measurement: -33°F; mapped only to its containing half-zone.

Source taxon: Prunus serotina · source identifier match.

Source location: PlantCharacteristics record 90650, Temperature, Minimum (°F).

Conditions in the fire evidence

These describe tested or rated plant material. They are not horticultural maintenance instructions.

dead material: FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database evidence row (condition method), FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database evidence row (condition method), FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database evidence row (condition method), FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database evidence row (condition method), FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database evidence row (condition method)

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.

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector: Landscape Zone 3 — 10–30 ft from the structure; thin vegetation, remove debris, and minimize plant massing [Fire Performance Plant Selector landscape zone] (with its recommendation)
North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: prunus-serotina [nc-toolbox-flammability-facet] (with its recommendation)
Firewise Plant Guide: Hardwood Trees [Sun City plant-table sections] (with its recommendation)
Firewise Landscaping Plants: Deciduous Trees [Maryland Firewise plant-form tables] (with its recommendation)
FireWise Plants offer colorful choices for Fire Safe Gardens: Scientific name / Common name / Comments table [arkansas-firewise-table] (with its recommendation)
Maine fire-resistant plant list: Trees, page 1: Black cherry - Prunus serotina [Maine Forest Service list section and page] (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.

Listed without a rating (25)

Corroboration (25 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

25 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.
- Primary study Shi2013: Shi, L., & Chew, M. Y. L. (2013). Experimental study of woods under external heat flux by autoignition. Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry, 111, 1399-1407.
  
  Shared row context: Ignitability measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Shi2013-1; sampling ND.
  - “time to flaming (s): 54”
    
    FLAMITS record 12636.
  - “time to flaming (s): 57”
    
    FLAMITS record 12642.
  - “time to flaming (s): 37”
    
    FLAMITS record 12648.
  - “time to flaming (s): 16”
    
    FLAMITS record 12654.
  - “time to flaming (s): 11”
    
    FLAMITS record 12660.
  - “time to flaming (s): 10”
    
    FLAMITS record 12666.
  - “temperature at flaming (°C): 465.4”
    
    FLAMITS record 12672.
  - “temperature at flaming (°C): 543.6”
    
    FLAMITS record 12678.
  - “temperature at flaming (°C): 433.1”
    
    FLAMITS record 12684.
  - “temperature at flaming (°C): 425”
    
    FLAMITS record 12690.
  - “temperature at flaming (°C): 334.4”
    
    FLAMITS record 12696.
  - “temperature at flaming (°C): 346.5”
    
    FLAMITS record 12702.
- Primary study Varner2021: Varner, J. M., Kane, J. M., Kreye, J. K., & Shearman, T. M. (2021). Litter Flammability of 50 Southeastern North American Tree Species: Evidence for Mesophication Gradients Across Multiple Ecosystems. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 4, 727042. Primary-study method: freshly fallen litter was oven-dried at 50–60°C for at least 24 hours to constant mass; each trial used a 15 g dry litter fuelbed, with five to seven trials per species.
  
  Shared row context: plant part litter; fuel all; predrying yes; device burning bench; site Varner2021-1; sampling ND.
  - Shared measurement context: Combustibility measurement.
    - “flame height (cm): 67.6” · condition: dead material · condition method: Materials and Methods, Laboratory Burning
      
      FLAMITS record 13658.
    - “flame intensity (kW/m): 241” · condition: dead material · condition method: Materials and Methods, Laboratory Burning
      
      FLAMITS record 13662.
  - Shared measurement context: Sustainability measurement.
    - “flaming duration (s): 58.6” · condition: dead material · condition method: Materials and Methods, Laboratory Burning
      
      FLAMITS record 13659.
    - “smouldering duration (s): 295.6” · condition: dead material · condition method: Materials and Methods, Laboratory Burning
      
      FLAMITS record 13660.
  - “burnt biomass (%): 87.9” · condition: dead material · condition method: Materials and Methods, Laboratory Burning
    
    FLAMITS record 13661; Consumability measurement.
- Primary study Ji2003: Ji, J., Yang, L. -H., Chen, X., & Fan, W. (2003). Study on the effects of heat flux levels on heat release rate of wood. Journal Fire Science, 21, 5565.
  
  Shared row context: plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Ji2003-1; sampling ND.
  - Shared measurement context: Ignitability measurement.
    - “time to flaming (s): 1612”
      
      FLAMITS record 19233.
    - “time to flaming (s): 194”
      
      FLAMITS record 19234.
    - “time to flaming (s): 83”
      
      FLAMITS record 19235.
    - “time to flaming (s): 50”
      
      FLAMITS record 19236.
  - Shared measurement context: Combustibility measurement.
    - “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 12.51”
      
      FLAMITS record 19249.
    - “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 9.07”
      
      FLAMITS record 19250.
    - “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 9.77”
      
      FLAMITS record 19251.
    - “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 10.59”
      
      FLAMITS record 19252.

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

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Prunus serotina (Wild black cherry). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/prunus-serotina/. Last verified 2026-08-23.