"Acacia Koa Gray" is a large, evergreen broadleaf tree and the only Acacia native and endemic to Hawaii. Culturally, ecologically and economically Koa is Hawaii's most valuable tree species. In ancient times the largest and straightest trees were made into canoes, but with the introduction of cattle in the 1800's, which graze juvenile Koa leaves aggressively, forests no longer regenerated and the number of trees diminished. Insects and disease further devastated the majestic upland Koa forests, and today the demand for Koa lumber far outstrips supply. The scarcity of Koa is reflected in its ever-increasing price in the marketplace.

  Koa heartwood is highly valued by furniture and crafts people throughout Hawaii, and around the world, for its unique grain, wide range of coloration, and workability. Wood color runs through a wide spectrum - from a pale yellow (blonde), red, chocolate brown, to dark reddish purple. Curly Koa, created through both environmental stress and genetics, is the most highly prized.

Reference: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service
Photos by Palani Greenwell & Lou Lambert.

  "The monarch of native Hawaiian forest trees is the Koa. Its height of 50 feet or more and its crown of far spreading branches are attained slowly. It is common on mountain sides, chiefly between altitudes of 1,500 and 4,000 feet, where its round dark green crown is a characteristic feature of the landscape. The bark is light gray, smooth on young trees, on mature trees considerably furrowed longitudinally. Whereas now it is used for furniture, woodwork, ukuleles, and novelties, it formerly was carved by Hawaiians into such things as war canoes, surfboards, and calabashes, and was then as now perhaps the most valuable lumber tree in Hawaii."

From In Gardens of Hawaii by Marie C. Neal (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1965). 
 

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