Koa

Scientific Name: Acacia koa

Hawaiian Name: Koa

This iconic plant is known for it’s sickle shaped leaves, but is often confused with Australian eucalypts which  is very similar. To tell the difference one can break a leaf  off and see if it smells like eucalyptus or grass. Hawaiians actually used the elepaio bird to check on the health of  koa trees before they were used for massive voyaging  and fighting  canoes. If the bird found many insects than the tree was probably bad if it found few it was a good sign  Click here for full article