@saab,
Tangent -
To talk a little more about fire ecology, I learned about it as a landscape designer (architect). I started in that field back in the early 1980's. That was four years. At some point we had a fire expert come talk to our class. His talk, hard for me to understand (smiles, he might have been european) made a big impression on me. But I read his booklet, probably still have it somewhere in my stuff. Some part of the problem is the increasing human population with big houses that need to be saved.. or even many small ones. This is when I first started learning about living lightly on the land. All this mattered a lot re our clients, my or our/different firms, how to design wisely (start by clearing brush). But my quieter self would say, don't be there in that place except lightly.
Anyway, some plants are actually terrific for fire protection. One of my clients - she was a fellow italian student - who lived in a place that could be called desolate or gorgeous asked me to come look. The fire had stopped near the house but at the row of Queen Anne Oleander (Nerium oleander; those are tall.)
Don't rush out to buy it though, as I read the plant has new (to me) problems.
Not re cattle dying from eating it, usually told so that people won't use the stems to bar b cue or otherwise snack - but re pests.
