This fire-resistant tree could be the key to stopping wildfires

Mediterranean cypress trees stay green amid a charred forest.

(Image credit: Twitter)

published 2 September 2015

When a forest fire ravaged 20,000 hectares of forest in the Spanish province of Valencia in 2012, scientists made an amazing discovery: a patch of green. A group of cypresses stood seemingly untouched in a forest that was otherwise completely charred. Turns out, Mediterranean cypress trees have a natural resistance to fire. So much so, that in a forest where "all the common oaks, holm oaks, pines, and junipers had completely burnt," the BBC reports that only "1.27 percent of the Mediterranean cypresses had ignited."

This discovery sparked a three-year investigation into whether the tree could be strategically planted to create a buffer zone and effectively stop or slow the spread of wildfires. This month, scientists' findings were published in the Journal of Environmental Management. They found that "because of the particular structure of its leaves, [the Mediterranean cypress] is able to maintain a high water content even in situations of extreme heat and drought."

In even better news, the trees have a "great plasticity in terms of soil, climate and altitude," meaning that the tree could very well grow in parts of the world other than the Mediterranean — including California.