Acacia koaia Acacia koaia Acacia koaia, known as koaia or koaie in Hawaiian, is a tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii. It is closely related to "koa" ("A. koa"), and is sometimes considered to be the same species. "Acacia koaia" is usually distinguished by growing as a short (rarely more than ), broad, gnarled tree; having the seeds longitudinally arranged in the pod; shorter, straighter phyllodes; and much denser wood. A population on the northern coast of Kauai may be intermediate, but the relationships have not been worked out. "Koaia" wood is claimed to be very different
Greater koa finch regeneration of koa forests, while introduced black rats ("Rattus rattus") preyed on young birds. Avian pox ("Poxvirus avium") and malaria ("Plasmodium relictum"), spread by mosquitoes, may have also been a factor. However, even before these issues became important, the koa finches were probably already living in marginal habitat due to the loss of lowland koa forests, as evidenced by the extinction of the other koa finch species (which lived on lower-elevation islands) prior to European contact. Greater koa finch The greater koa finch ("Rhodacanthis palmeri") was a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It was found only in the