One FEIS context is available through fire ecology. It supplies a different kind of context from the green condition and temperature assertions, so the sections stay distinct within the garryana oak account. This organization keeps the source limitation, single ecology context, test state, and two hardiness rows visible without making any one route a substitute for the others. The species entry remains the boundary for that combined reading.
Form
tree
Mature height
~80 ft
Water need
low
Rated in
British Columbia; Global; OR/WA/ID; Oregon +2
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
3 cited FEIS topics across 3 dimensions; context only, never a rating vote.
The October 2023 joint Pacific Northwest Extension publication explicitly names Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and publishes more than 150 plant profiles. FireApproved has normalized 155 exact plant records from the source; publication scope does not assert that every listed plant suits every site within the three states.
Eastern Washington (WA footprint); partial normalized coverage
Washington DNR publishes the guide for Eastern Washington and says it compiles plants from other Firewise documents that are likely to thrive there. FireApproved publishes 46 exact owners only as eastern Washington context. The rows are corroborative, not empirical or statewide.
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Documented in CA, ID, OR, WA.
Native range
Current cited native range in CA, OR, WA.
Introduced / established
USDA hardiness
2 applicable cited hardiness statements overlap but have different boundaries; compare each complete source row.
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.
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.
The Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System synthesizes how this exact taxon responds
to wildland fire and occurs in fire-shaped ecosystems. This literature context does not rate a
maintained landscape plant, does not change the computed classification above, and is not a
substitute for building-adjacent placement guidance.
USDA Forest Service FEIS · review QUEGAR
Quercus garryana, Oregon white oak
Immediate fire effect. Mature trees in open woodland usually withstand surface fire, but severe fire carried by a dense understory can occasionally kill them. (Immediate Fire Effects)
Postfire response. Top-killed trees can regenerate rapidly from roots or the root crown, while acorn survival depends on where the seed was during fire. (Plant Response to Fire)
Management considerations. FEIS cautions that urban proximity, sensitive species, nonnative plants, and understory composition complicate the use of prescribed fire in oak habitats. (Fire Management Considerations)
Source taxon: Quercus garryana · exact scientific name ·
review written 2007-04 · page updated 2026-02-03 ·
source record
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.
Fire-Resistant Plants for Oregon Home Landscapes: Southern and Western Oregon [osu-frn6-oregon-regions] (with its recommendation)
Fire-resistant plant profile galleries: Oregon white oak — Quercus garryana [osu-2023-trees-gallery] (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.
“Fire-Resistant Plant Materials for Oregon”
· condition: green
Quercus garryana (Oregon white oak) is listed under “Trees—deciduous” for Southern and Western Oregon. The guide says most listed plants require some irrigation during Oregon's dry summer months and must be maintained in a healthy condition.
8 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.
Primary study Engber2012: Engber, E. A., & Varner, J. M. (2012). Patterns of flammability of the California oaks: the role of leaf traits. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 42, 1965-1975.
Shared row context: plant part litter; fuel all; predrying yes; device burning bench; site Engber2012-1; sampling ND.
