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Butcher’s-broom is rated fire resistant, supported by three authorities addressing different fire-management settings.
The Generalitat Valenciana recommends Ruscus aculeatus as a low-flammability species for beds and rockeries in wildland-urban-interface gardens. The Diputació de Girona and Bombers de la Generalitat de Catalunya rate it “MUY RECOMENDADA” for garden suitability. Their suitability judgment assumes care suited to each species. Fuel structure, maintenance, origin, and invasiveness are weighed alongside fire research and fire-service experience.
For perimeter protection strips, the Diputació de Barcelona and CREAF name butcher’s-broom among the less-flammable species that managers should maintain first. This is guidance about retaining vegetation while opening and maintaining those strips, rather than a general planting recommendation.
Butcher’s-broom is a perennial in the asparagus family. The findings come from Valencia, Spain and the western Mediterranean, and from Catalonia, Spain. Together, the garden guidance and perimeter-management guidance consistently place the plant on the less-flammable side, supporting its fire-resistant rating.
Form
perennial
Region
Valencia, Spain
Rated in
Catalonia, Spain; Valencia, Spain / western Mediterranean
On this lot
1. Fire evidence and conditions
Fire evidence
Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Catalonia, Spain; Valencia, Spain / western Mediterranean
Maintenance
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Native range
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.
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: suitable inside or outside the 25-metre maximum-risk zone [girona-2020-iuf-25m-suitability] (with its recommendation)
Les franges perimetrals de protecció contra els incendis …: page 4 species-selection panel [catalonia-perimeter-strip-maintain-remove] (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.
Ruscus aculeatus is rated “MUY RECOMENDADA” 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.
