More Recommendations for Fire-Resistant Trees and Plants

An olive tree.

By Laurel Busby

News & Information Editor

A couple of residents who read the article on the Palisades Forestry Committee’s list of fire-resilient trees sent in further recommendations, including suggestions for fire-resistant fruit trees.

One reader, Melanie Galuten, shared that she had multiple fire-resilient trees from the list on her lot, including oaks, jacarandas, and a magnolia, as well as fire-resistant ground cover. The combination may have helped save her house since houses on three sides of hers either burned or suffered severe damage in the Palisades Fire.

“My sweet jacaranda, who really took the hit of the house next door, has come back, and she has flowers,” Galuten noted.

Olive trees are one fruit-bearing tree that is also fire resistant, Galuten said.

The moisture-rich tree with its leathery leaves can have “a similar effect in a wildfire as wet logs in a campfire,” according to the Arbor Day Foundation.

Another reader, Charles Portnoy, mentioned that “banana plants are fire resistant to the point of being used as firebreaks” and also sent some material on the topic, including a list from an Australian garden center of fire-resistant fruit trees, including pomegranate, loquat, fig, mulberry, citrus, olive, apple, pear, plum, cherry, apricot, peach, nectarine, quince, guava, jaboticaba, tamarind, avocado, banana, mango, blueberry, grapevine, dragonfruit, passionfruit, persimmon, carob, sapodilla, custard apple, lychee, and black sapote.

A second Portnoy reference from the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources mentioned the fire resistance of citrus and deciduous fruit trees, but also stated that “fire-resistant plants are not fireproof! … Still, a working knowledge of fire-resistant plants is a good starting point for creating a fire-wise landscape.”