The Hawaiian wood commonly known as Koa is known to botanists and other scientists as Acacia koa<\/em>.<\/p>\n
The range of A. koa<\/em> extends from longitude 154° to 160° W; its latitude ranges from 19° to 22° N. It is found on all six of the major islands of the Hawai’ian chain: Hawaiʻi, Molokaʻi, Maui, Lānaʻi, Oʻahu, and Kauaʻi, while the largest populations are found on Hawaiʻi, Maui, and Oʻahu.<\/p>\n
A. koa<\/em> trees are found nowhere else in the world outside of these six geographically isolated islands.<\/p>\n
Koa Sideview<\/p><\/div>\n
A closely related species Acacia koaia<\/em> is found in dry areas of the Hawai’ian Islands, but as it has been much more heavily impacted and damaged by the cattle industry, it is now rare. The most significant remaining stocks of this rare tree can be seen in the remote North Kohala region found on the far northeast coast of the main island, Hawai’i. The wood of A. koaia<\/em> is denser, harder, and more finely grained than A. koa<\/em> wood.<\/p>\n
The only other Pacific islands that support an endemic Acacia<\/em> species are the islands of the nation of Vanuatu, formerly known as the New Hebrides while under the joint rule of France and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
The species most closely related to A. koa<\/em> is A. heterophylla<\/em>, from the incredible distant island of Réunion located in the southern Indian Ocean, relatively close to the mega-island of Madagascar.<\/p>\n
Acacia species are most common in Australia and it is believed that both A. koa <\/em>and A. heterophylla<\/em> are descended from Acacia melanoxylon<\/em>, commonly known as Australian Blackwood.<\/p>\n
The incredibly wide dispersal range is believed to be the result of seed carrying by long distance flying ocean birds such as the petrel. Both A. koa<\/em> and A. heterophylla<\/em> prosper in similar environments, which are very different from the environment favored by the presumed parent species A. melanoxylon.<\/em><\/p>\n
A. koa<\/em> is a nitrogen fixing plant and as such it is one of earliest colonizers of lava flow areas as it thrives in this hard and acidic soil, promoting the breakdown of the lava into fertile soils through the addition of nitrogen which makes it a vital component of the ecology of volcanic islands.<\/p>\n