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The name koa in the Hawaiian language ultimately comes from Proto-Austronesian *teRas meaning "core" or "ironwood"; many names referring to certain ironwood or heartwood species in Southeast Asia and Oceania such as Vitex parviflora (tugás in Cebuano), Eusideroxylon zwageri (togas in Tombonuwo), and Intsia bijuga (dort in Palauan) descend from this root.
Hawaiian international architecture used precious indigenous koa wood for doors and furnishings and designs employed symbolism of natural Hawaiian phenomena. The capitol dome, for example, is designed to reflect the volcanic origins of the Hawaiian Islands.
Olo boards were primarily made from Redwood, Koa wood, Ulu wood or Wiliwili. [4] Olo boards required a strong, hard, durable and very dense type of wood for the use of riding it on larger ocean waves, they also required stronger wood since they were long and heavy which could cause cracks or huge splits if weak types of wood were used.
The alaia's roots span back a thousand years. [3] Lala is the Hawaiian word describing the action of riding an alaia surfboard. Lala is a word found in the Hawaiian dictionary meaning ‘the controlled slide in the curl when surfing on a board.' [4] Princess Kaʻiulani's alaia board, measuring 7ft 4in long, is preserved at the Bishop Museum.
Koa is highly prized hardwood that can sell for prices as high as $150 a board foot, a special measurement indicating one-foot by one-foot by one-inch wood piece. [14] Koa is currently being grown on plantations to support this high demand, yet some plantations have a 90% tree mortality rate over several years due to Koa wilt. [15]
The wood has a density of about 0.75 g/cm 3. [4] In Taiwan, its wood was used to make support beams for underground mines. [citation needed] Acacia confusa is challenging to work and for this reason was traditionally burned as firewood or turned into charcoal in Taiwan. In later years it was exported to China to be made into wood flooring for ...
Acacia koa wood. Some Acacia species are valuable as timber, such as A. melanoxylon (blackwood) from Australia, which attains a great size; its wood is used for furniture, and takes a high polish; and A. omalophylla (myall wood, also Australian), which yields a fragrant timber used for ornaments.
The wood of koaiʻa is harder and more dense than that of koa. [6] It was used to make laʻau melomelo (fishing lures), hoe (), ihe (short spears), pololu (long spears), ʻōʻō (digging sticks), ʻiʻe kūkū (square kapa beaters), and papa olonā (Touchardia latifolia scrapers).