Many types of acacia trees have psychoactive alkaloids. These trees are often sought out by drug users for their drug-like properties. In Hawaii, we have one species with such properties, called the Acacia Confusa (also known as the false Koa tree, or the Formosa acacia). But it’s not the drugs that are the problem – there’s a more dire issue to be spoken about that has to do with the way the alkaloids are harvested.
Before continuing this article, I want you to think about the most recent time you walked through a park, or around your neighborhood. Do you remember anything odd? You most likely did not. Now, after this article, I would like you to take another look around and notice the bark of the Koa trees. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. If you take another look, you’d very likely notice that the bark of the trees has been completely stripped off. You’ll begin to observe it everywhere! The bark of a false Koa tree is stripped off the tree for drug use. The dreadful problem is – they’re peeling the bark off the wrong tree!
I was first alerted of this issue when I read a Hawaii News Now (2019) article about this very same issue on Oahu. It wasn’t until I walked through Honokaʻa that I noticed an even bigger problem. Although the article I read said that vandals were responsible for the damage of false Koa trees, they failed to mention that the vandals were also stripping bark off of the Acacia Koaia – a native and vital tree for the Hawaiian island’s ecosystem.
This issue isn’t solely bound to Honokaʻa. We can also view similar damage in Waimea, and there’s no doubt that this problem is spread throughout the entirety of the Hawaiian islands. The next time you are taking a stroll in Honokaʻa, you can swing by the Honokaʻa Sports Complex & Skate Park, the Honokaʻa Hospital parking lot, or even the Honokaʻa Dump to view the trees lining the area. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. The damage is everywhere!
To identify between the two trees is quite difficult for the untrained eye. Koaiʻa trees are smaller in comparison to the false Koas and have much more gnarled wood (looks as if there are cracks in the wood) than its lookalike, the false Koa, which has much smoother and flat-looking wood and is a taller tree. Noticeably, false Koa trees have 4-8 seeds in each seed pod, while the Koaiʻa has up to 6-12 seeds in a pod. Since Acacia Koaiʻa trees are such important plants to Hawaii’s ecosystem, it is important to know the difference between the invasive species (Acacia Confusa) and the native species (Acacia Koaiʻa).
The practice of stripping bark from Acacia trees may seem harmless at first, but in most cases, stripping the bark from the tree results in its death. The bark of a tree is what transports nutrients and water to the rest of the plant. When this bark is removed (especially if it is removed at the base of the tree in a ring), the tree will die. When vandals cannot tell the difference between the two trees, it often leads to the death of our native trees for no reason. We must keep these trees alive, as they are important not only to the ecosystem – but also to generations of Hawaiian culture that involve the Acacia Koaa. If we give up on these trees, we aren’t just giving up on them – but also the cultural importance and history of these magnificent trees. Stay informed!
