United States / Grow / southern arrowwood

southern arrowwood

Viburnum dentatum · Viburnaceae · all Viburnum records · also called Southern arrowood viburnum · Wikipedia

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Southern arrowwood is fire resistant, supported by whole-plant burn testing and consistent extension guidance.

All six assessments favor it. USDA Forest Service and NIST researchers burned whole shrubs using large-scale calorimetry, then grouped 34 ornamental shrubs by their results. Southern arrowwood fell into the low-flammability cluster. That finding is more than a label based on appearance or plant type: it comes from observing how the whole plant behaved during fire testing.

Extension guidance reaches the same practical conclusion across several regions. North Carolina sources rate it low on their four-tier and three-tier scales. Ohio State places it at L, the second-lowest band of a five-band scale, while Virginia Tech gives it L on a three-point scale. The University of Tennessee includes it among its recommended Firewise plants. These systems are not identical, but each places southern arrowwood on the recommended side of its own scale.

Southern arrowwood is a roughly 12-foot shrub in the Viburnaceae family, native across the southeastern, north-central, and northeastern United States and hardy to USDA zone 5a. Fire resistant does not mean unable to burn, but the agreement between whole-plant testing and regional extension ratings makes southern arrowwood a well-supported lower-flammability choice.

Form: shrub
Mature height: ~12 ft
Rated in: Global; Maine; Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia; Michigan / Great Lakes +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: 3 source placement records; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions: Global; Maine; Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia; Michigan / Great Lakes; NC; North Carolina; Ohio / Midwest; Tennessee; Virginia / Mid-Atlantic; eastern US; north-eastern and mid-Atlantic United States; southeastern US
Maintenance

Typed publication scope: 10 scopes across 8 cited fire sources

Combustion characteristics of north-eastern USA vegetation tested in the cone calorimeter · Official scoped edition
- Northeastern and mid-Atlantic study sites (ME, MD, MA, NY, VA footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2007-08-20
  The authors collected foliage and twigs across study sites in Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia, then conditioned and tested the samples in a cone calorimeter. FireApproved publishes 37 exact source owners only as multi-state laboratory context. The source does not establish that every taxon was sampled in every named state, whole-plant behavior, landscape suitability, or state planting guidance.
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.
Wildfire-resistant Landscape Plants for Michigan (Extension Bulletin E2948) · Official scoped edition
- MI; partial normalized coverage · 2007-01-01
  Michigan State University Extension Bulletin E2948 is explicitly a list of wildfire-resistant landscape plants for Michigan and includes a Michigan-native field. FireApproved publishes 221 exact GBIF owners from 226 represented source rows and holds 15 complex or non-exact rows. This dated publication scope is not a current site-suitability determination.
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.
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, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV.
Native range: Current cited native range in DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, MD, ME, MO, NC, NJ, OH, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV.
Introduced / established
USDA hardiness: Documented range 2–8.

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

18

exact source areas

Current introduced

0

exact source areas

Qualified

0

doubtful or extinct source rows

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

District of Columbia (DC)
Delaware (DE)
Georgia (GA)
Iowa (IA)
Illinois (IL)
Indiana (IN)
Kentucky (KY)
Maryland (MD)
Maine (ME)
Missouri (MO)
North Carolina (NC)
New Jersey (NJ)
Ohio (OH)
Pennsylvania (PA)
South Carolina (SC)
Tennessee (TN)
Virginia (VA)
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 viburnum-dentatum · 2016-wayback · as of 2026-08-26

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

Source taxon: Viburnum dentatum · 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.
Wildfire-resistant Landscape Plants for Michigan (Extension Bulletin E2948) · record shrub:Viburnum dentatum · New, January 2007 · as of 2026-08-26

2–8 explicit range · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Viburnum dentatum · exact match.

Source location: Table 1, shrub row.

Conditions in the fire evidence

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

cured: Combustion characteristics of north-eastern USA vegetation tested in the cone calorimeter evidence row

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 2 — 5–10 ft from the structure; maintained lawn or fuel breaks, with easily ignited evergreens avoided [Fire Performance Plant Selector landscape zone] (mid-scale rating)
Firewise Landscaping Plants: Deciduous Shrubs [Maryland Firewise plant-form tables] (with its recommendation)
Maine fire-resistant plant list: Shrubs, page 2: Arrowhead vibernum - Viburnum dentatum [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.

Mid-scale / conditional (2)

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector — USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area S&PF + state Firewise programs (WV, OH, PA, DE, DC, MD, NJ) · 2016-wayback · original source Primary evidence Keyed curation lineage: ufifas-srs-tree

“AT RISK Firewise (3)”

Very showy porcelain blue fruit in the fall.
Combustion characteristics of north-eastern USA vegetation tested in the cone calorimeter — International Journal of Wildland Fire (Dibble, White, Lebow) · 2007 · original source Primary evidence Lab-tested lineage: usfs-fpl-cone-tree

“Measured; not in an author-named high or low effective-heat-of-combustion group” · score 12.25 (AEHOC-MJ-kg) · condition: cured · original source

Conditioned foliage and twigs were tested at 25 kW/m2 in a cone calorimeter.

Listed without a rating (1)

Corroboration (1 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

“calorific value (kcal/kg): 2985.57”

FLAMITS record 2896; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Dibble2007-1; sampling ND. Primary study Dibble2007: Dibble, A. C., White, R. H., & Lebow, P. K. (2007). Combustion characteristics of north-eastern USA vegetation tested in the cone calorimeter: invasive versus non-invasive plants. International journal of wildland fire, 16, 426-443.

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

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Viburnum dentatum (Southern arrowood viburnum). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/viburnum-dentatum/. Last verified 2026-08-23.