第1947期:How Gardeners Can Reduce Risk of Fire

Invasive grasses might have played a part in the deadly wildfires that burned Lahaina, Hawaii recently. The grasses have taken over land that was once occupied by crops like sugar and pineapple.↳ Michele Steinberg is wildfire division director at the National Fire Protection Association. She said some plants are more flammable than others. But, she noted, “there is no such thing as a fireproof plant.” All plants can catch fire under the right conditions. Those conditions include poor pruning, lack of watering, and letting dry, dead plant parts remain on the soil surface in high-risk areas.最近，夏威夷拉海纳发生的致命野火可能与入侵草有关。这些草已经占据了曾经种植糖和菠萝等农作物的土地。↳米歇尔斯坦伯格是国家消防协会野火部门主任。她说有些植物比其他植物更易燃。但是，她指出，“不存在防火植物这样的东西。”所有植物在适当的条件下都可以着火。这些条件包括修剪不当、缺乏浇水以及让干燥、死亡的植物部分留在高风险地区的土壤表面。If you are selecting plants for your garden, knowing which plants offer some fire resistance and which are more flammable can serve you well.Plants that produce flammable substances, like aromatic oils, resins, waxes, or sap, are among the quickest to catch fire. They will often catch fire even if they have been well-watered and cared for. They include bamboo, rosemary, and eucalyptus. Trees with papery bark that falls off, like river birch, are usually more flammable than those without. And fine-needled plants like pine, juniper, and spruce contain saps and resins. Their needle-like leaves increase the risk of fire when left on the ground or on the top of a house.如果您正在为您的花园选择植物，那么了解哪些植物具有一定的耐火性以及哪些植物更易燃会对您大有裨益。产生易燃物质（如芳香油、树脂、蜡或汁液）的植物是最容易着火的植物之一。即使它们得到了充分的浇水和照顾，它们也经常会着火。它们包括竹子、迷迭香和桉树。具有脱落的纸质树皮的树木，例如河桦，通常比没有脱落的树皮更易燃。松树、杜松和云杉等细针植物含有汁液和树脂。当它们的针状叶子留在地上或屋顶上时，会增加火灾的风险。Many grasses are highly flammable. Their ability to ignite increases when they are left to stand dry over winter or during periods without rain. Additionally, too much heat dries out the soil and under such conditions, many kinds of plants turn into a fire starter.As a group, “native plants aren’t necessarily less flammable” than introduced kinds of plants, Steinberg said. But nonnative, invasive plants often are a greater fire risk because they spread quickly and are usually left alone by wildlife. The nonnative plants spread faster than native plants, and often tolerate heat, lack of rain and heavy rain better. For the best fire resistance, choose deciduous trees, like ash, crabapple, and maple, over fine-needled trees. Plants like succulents with water-filled leaves are slow to burn. They include ice plants and sedums. Some groundcover plants, like ajuga and creeping phlox, are also slow burners.许多草高度易燃。当它们在冬季或无雨期间保持干燥时，它们的点燃能力会增加。此外，过多的热量会使土壤变得干燥，在这种情况下，许多种类的植物都会成为引火物。斯坦伯格说，作为一个群体，“本土植物不一定比引进的植物更不易燃”。但外来入侵植物往往具有更大的火灾风险，因为它们传播得很快，而且通常被野生动物忽视。外来植物比本地植物传播得更快，并且通常能更好地耐受高温、缺雨和大雨。为了获得最佳的耐火性，请选择落叶树，如白蜡树、海棠树和枫树，而不是细针树。叶子充满水的多肉植物等植物燃烧缓慢。它们包括冰植物和景天属植物。一些地被植物，如牛筋草和匍匐福禄考，也是缓慢燃烧的。The Washington State University Extension Service has published advice for choosing plants that are fire-resistant. Qualities that make a plant less likely to burn include: • High water content in leaves (these ignite and burn more slowly). • Little or no seasonal gain of dead plant material. • Open branching (they provide less fuel for fires). • Fewer total branches and leaves (again, less fuel for fires). • Slow-growing, so less pruning is required (to keep open structure as noted above). • Non-flammable material on the plant, like resins, oil, or wax.华盛顿州立大学推广服务中心发布了选择耐火植物的建议。使植物不易燃烧的品质包括： • 叶子中含水量高（这些叶子点燃和燃烧的速度较慢）。 • 死亡植物材料的季节性增加很少或没有。 • 开放的分支（它们提供的火灾燃料较少）。 • 树枝和树叶总数减少（同样，火灾燃料也减少）。 • 生长缓慢，因此需要较少的修剪（以保持如上所述的开放结构）。 • 植物上的不可燃材料，如树脂、油或蜡。