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
Mauna Kea State Recreation Area. A band of ranch land on Mauna Kea's lower slopes was formerly "Acacia koa" – "Metrosideros polymorpha" (koa-ōhia) forest. Its destruction was driven by an influx of European and American settlers in the early 19th century, as extensive logging during the 1830s provided lumber for new homes. Vast swathes of the forest were burned and cleared for sugarcane plantations. Most of the houses on the island were built of koa, and those parts of the forest that survived became a source for firewood to power boilers on the sugarcane plantations and to heat homes. The once vast