Acacia koaia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Koaiʻa |
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Acacia
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koaia
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Acacia koaia, known as koaiʻa or koaiʻe in Hawaiian, is a special tree that grows only in Hawaii. It belongs to the pea family, called Fabaceae. This tree is very similar to another Hawaiian tree called koa (A. koa). Some people even think they might be the same species.
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About the Koaiʻa Tree
The Acacia koaia tree is usually easy to spot because it grows in a unique way. It's often a short, wide, and twisted tree, rarely growing taller than 5 meters (about 16 feet). Its seeds are arranged lengthwise inside its pods. The tree has shorter, straighter phyllodes, which are like flattened leaf stems. The wood of koaiʻa is much denser than that of the koa tree. This difference in wood might be the best way to tell these two similar trees apart.
Where Koaiʻa Grows
Acacia koaia, or Koaiʻa, is very good at living in dry places. It can even form thick forests in areas that get very little rain. In the past, you could find it widely in dry forests on all the main islands of Hawaii.
Other plants that often grow near koaiʻa include:
- uluhe (Dicranopteris linearis)
- hala (Pandanus tectorius)
- koʻokoʻolau (Bidens species)
- kokiʻo (Hibiscus kokio)
- nehe (Lipochaeta species)
- hala pepe (Dracaena species)
- ʻōhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha)
Like many plants in the pea family, koaiʻa can "fix nitrogen." This means it can take nitrogen gas from the air and change it into a form that plants can use as food. This helps the soil stay healthy.
Sadly, koaiʻa trees have been greatly harmed by grazing animals like cattle. Because of this, they are now rare. You can still see them on ranch land in North Kohala. There is also a small protected area near Waimea called the koaiʻa sanctuary. Koaiʻa is also one of the tree species being used to help regrow plants on the island of Kahoʻolawe. This island lost most of its plant life due to animals eating too much and past military testing.
Uses of Koaiʻa
Traditional Medicine
Native Hawaiians used koaiʻa leaves and bark for medicine. They would grind these parts of the tree with other plants like ʻauʻaukoʻi (Senna occidentalis) and kikānia pipili (Desmodium sandwicense) stalks. This mixture was then mixed with water and used in a steam bath to help treat skin problems.
Other Uses
The wood of koaiʻa is harder and more dense than that of koa. Because of its strength, it was used to make many useful items:
- laʻau melomelo (fishing lures)
- hoe (paddles)
- ihe (short spears)
- pololu (long spears)
- ʻōʻō (digging sticks)
- ʻiʻe kūkū (square kapa beaters, used for making cloth)
- papa olonā (scrapers for Touchardia latifolia, a plant used to make strong fibers)
Koaiʻa leaves were also used to cover hale lau koaiʻe, which were shelters and permanent sheds.
Gallery
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Seed pod, showing the end-to-end arrangement of seeds -
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Koaiʻa tree showing the short, broad form -
Remnants of the koaiʻa forest of North Kohala, now pasture
