Fire resistant plants

I have read of fire resistant plants and wondered if anyone can recommend a good listing for me. Some young friends of mine have recently bought their first home on the edge of a deep ravine in the San Diego area and from the photos I have seen, it looks like here is a lot of dry material in the ravine that comes up very close to the house.

They have asked for planting suggestions and I don't have a clue about that part of the country but fire resistant would be my first thought. Any resources would be greatly appreciated.

This is a web site that explains the chaparral of San Diego - a basic understanding of what they're dealing with can save a lot of $$ and frustration.

http://www.californiachaparral.com/cplantsanimals.html

The California Native Plant Society - San Diego Chapter has a lot of resource information.

http://www.cnpssd.org/fire/index.html

I lean toward using native plants, but these sources can help your friends understand the area they live in - which helps a lot no matter what they decide to plant. They really need to understand and use defensible space.

Hope this helps.

Kathleen

Cistus / rockrose. I just read somewhere this week that cistus is fire resistant which surprised me. I would have assumed otherwise since they have this lovely, resinous scent released in warm weather and I would have thought that would be due to volatile oils that might be a problem fire-wise. Cistus comes in many varieties, very drought tolerant, hardly needs pruning or other maintenance, beautiful, smells good...what more could you ask for? I haven't researched fire resistant plants, but since I love cistus, it would certainly be added to the mix of other plants.

Thanks to both of you. KaperC, that is a great resource I will pass on to them, and Gypsy, I know the young man's mom has a lot of rock rose she will love to share with them.