coralberry
Symphoricarpos orbiculatus
A genus split is not a placement verdict.
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Coralberry is rated fire resistant, though one eastern Firewise selector classifies it as “At Risk.” Three of four sources favor fire resistance.
. Ohio State University Extension assigns coralberry low flammability, a recommended rating on its five-band scale. Virginia Cooperative Extension and Virginia Tech also give it low flammability, the recommended category on their three-point scale. Maryland DNR, New Jersey DEP, and the West Virginia Division of Forestry call it relatively resistant to fire and place it among plants with stronger resistance to wildfire ignition.
The USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area and state Firewise programs provide the dissenting assessment: Firewise rating 3, meaning “At Risk,” on a four-point scale running from Firewise to Not Firewise. This is not the same scale used in Ohio or Virginia, so the grades cannot be averaged as though they measured identical categories. The state agencies’ affirmative list also has no comparative scale, leaving a genuine difference among the sources rather than a neat numerical resolution.
Coralberry is a shrub reaching about six feet at maturity and has high water needs. It is native in the southeastern, north-central, northeastern, and south-central United States. Most of the guidance supports calling it fire resistant, but the “At Risk” assessment makes that conclusion qualified and based on limited primary evidence.
- Form
- shrub
- Mature height
- ~6 ft
- Water need
- high
- Rated in
- Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia; Ohio / Midwest; Virginia / Mid-Atlantic; eastern US