Aloha, I notice there is some confusion about "koa" and "acacia" wood. Koa is endemic or native to Hawaii. It evolved in Hawaii and is found nowhere else. Its full name is Acacia koa, "Acacia" being the genus name and "koa" the species name. There are many types of Acacias found in different parts of the world. Acacia melanoxylon (Australian blackwood), and other acacias are being used for ukuleles. Those woods are called "acacia", and sometimes mislabeled as "koa". Acacia melanoxylon has pretty grain, and there are claims that it has similar tonal qualities to Acacia koa. But a true "koa" ukulele can only be made of wood from trees that are from Hawaii. Sorry for the Botany 101 lecture, but I'm from Hawaii and want to protect our native koa brand from pretenders. I see ukuleles mislabeled on ebay and elsewhere pretty frequently.
Koa wood is only from Hawaii...beware of pretenders
- Thread starter kulasingz
- Start date
haolejohn
Well-known member
It used to be very common for acacia to be labeled as "country of orgion" koa but not so much anymore. We have had many discussions on this topic.
hoosierhiver
Well-known member
I agree with everything except this statement," a true "koa" ukulele can only be made of wood from trees that are from Hawaii."
Acacia Koa is native to Hawaii, but grown elsewhere is still the same tree. A Colorado spruce in New England is still a Colorado spruce.
You can't be botanical and sentimental at the same time.
Acacia Koa is native to Hawaii, but grown elsewhere is still the same tree. A Colorado spruce in New England is still a Colorado spruce.
You can't be botanical and sentimental at the same time.
haolejohn
Well-known member
so basically if I was to bring a acacia koa sampling back from Hawai'i and plant it in Georgia, i would then have a koa tree in Georgia? Nice.
It might be nice, but it's probably impossible. Government officials in Hawai'i are strict about letting stuff get off the islands. At the Honolulu Airport , officials confiscate seemingly benign stuff like store-bought apples and bananas. I'm sure they'd confiscate live plants or trees. Also, I'm not sure how koa would do in mainland winters that include snow.
H
Hippie Dribble
Guest
Interesting thread. Thanks much kulasingz for the info.
I think this may have been posted and spawned from my recent add on selling a "Koa Acacia" ukulele.
I fully understand the concept this guy is talking about actually. I knew that Koa was Acacia, and that it was a species, but did not fully understand "Koa". I will have to remove the word "koa" from my future references concerning these ukes, now that I actually understand the term. My apologies for anything that was missleading. I have been known all my life for being honest, with 2nd to none business ethics. To any native Hawaiian, I also fully understanding preservation of a culture, and my apologies for any offensive ignorance I might have displayed.
I fully understand the concept this guy is talking about actually. I knew that Koa was Acacia, and that it was a species, but did not fully understand "Koa". I will have to remove the word "koa" from my future references concerning these ukes, now that I actually understand the term. My apologies for anything that was missleading. I have been known all my life for being honest, with 2nd to none business ethics. To any native Hawaiian, I also fully understanding preservation of a culture, and my apologies for any offensive ignorance I might have displayed.
Pippin
Well-known member
A lot of companies advertised ukes made with Acacia as being Koa, that has pretty much been stopped. A lot of players now know the differences between blackwood and other Acacia species.
If you were to transport a small Koa tree to the USA mainland, your best bet for its survival would be southern Florida, but Hawaiian Islands have 75 degrees average temperature year round, various amounts of rainfall depending on where you are on the islands, and about a 15 mph breeze off the Pacific virtually every day. Factor in the volcanic loam and I am not sure that you could ever get a tree to thrive anywhere else... perhaps Tahiti.
If you were to transport a small Koa tree to the USA mainland, your best bet for its survival would be southern Florida, but Hawaiian Islands have 75 degrees average temperature year round, various amounts of rainfall depending on where you are on the islands, and about a 15 mph breeze off the Pacific virtually every day. Factor in the volcanic loam and I am not sure that you could ever get a tree to thrive anywhere else... perhaps Tahiti.
southcoastukes
Well-known member
O.K, here's a long lecture on tropical forestry.
Actually there are a lot of similar regions throughout the tropics. In Central America, probably half the western coast has those conditions. Species movement around the tropical world has been going on for centuries. The Monkeypod in Hawaii, for example, is a Central American native we call Cenizaro. We also have wide plantings of Tamarind (Tamarindo) which is an Asian native.
Usually there are specific reasons for this happening. In the case of Cenizaro, it was taken to Hawaii because it is such a beautiful ornamental. We brought in Tamarind because of it's delicious fruit.
No one that I know of has brought Koa to our region - then again, we already have more beautiful tropical hardwoods than probably any place on earth. There have been, however, two notable movements of trees for the purpose of timber.
Teak has recently come to Central America - it is a dense wood with a much faster growth rate than our natives, and has been widely planted on plantations. It is such a recent development (1980s) that there are still no fully mature trees, but evidence so far is that the quality is equal to Asian growth.
The other planting was much earlier. Santo Domingo Mahogany (Swietenia Mahogoni) is that beautiful dense mahogany - characteristics are almost between a Mahogany and a Rosewood. It was the first mahogany exported from the new world. It has been thought by many to be almost extinct. The last big native stands were cut by the Cubans and sent to the Soviet Union in the 1960s.
What most don't realize is that there is still a lot of it around. The Dutch, in their colonial days transported it from their Caribbean colonies to Indonsesia. There are huge stands of it there, where the government prohibits it's export in anything but finished goods.
I have seen the Caribbean material in antique furniture and a few old boards, and the Indonesian wood in newly built furniture exports. While those surviving antiques had better selected boards than a lot of what comes out of Indonesia now, to me, it appears that the overall quality of the Asian wood is just as good as the Caribbean.
To sum up, Koa could be grown in a lot of places in the tropics. Quality would likely vary as it would in Hawaii, with some sites being more favorable than others.
The End
haolejohn
Well-known member
Just for the record I was joking. I know that in order to get koa to grow else where, one would need ideal conditions.
spruce
Well-known member
Yeah, but....
I've milled quite a few koa logs, and recently got a load of Australian Blackwood...
Can you tell the difference between the two?
And if "yes", how?
Thanks in advance!
haolejohn
Well-known member
I think that one needs to ask wood supplier of the orgin of the wood. Most dealers advertise their koa as big island or Hawaiian koa. Asking pay attention to koa vs solid koa. If in doubt ask.
haolejohn
Well-known member
Also price. If it seems low price, chances are it is just acacia.
hoosierhiver
Well-known member
Just found this.
Apparently there is a koa enthusiast near San Francisco growing koa and spreading the word.
http://www.cloudforest.com/cafe/forum/61792.html
Apparently there is a koa enthusiast near San Francisco growing koa and spreading the word.
http://www.cloudforest.com/cafe/forum/61792.html
Moore Bettah Ukuleles
Well-known member
Oh boy, so I can boast that I have an ukulele that was made from koa grown in Fremont California! Just the mention of the word Fremont and......aaahhhhh, the vision it conjures up. I'm booking my next vacation there.
Aloha, and thanks, hoosierhiver, for the link about growing Acacia koa in San Francisco. You're right that a true koa ukulele could come from koa trees grown outside Hawaii. It may take 50 or 100 years for those to be available on ebay, though. That cloudforest link has interesting opinions about Acacia melanoxylon and comparisons to koa. From images I've seen on the internet, Acacia melanoxylon products often have gorgeous grain...equal in beauty to koa's. There is research on quick botanical dna tests to identify species that could help the forest product industry in the future.
From what I read, Acacia is an "aromatic" wood. I assume Koa is as well? They are VERY similar in color and grain. In fact, I can't seem to tell the difference, but then again, I do not have a "Hawaiian Koa" to put side by side. I will contest that these Acacia uke I am getting in are really nice, and after I spend some time with them setting them up properly, sound really nice. Better than my Mahoganies I play of my own. When I read that it was an Aromatic wood, the first thing I did when I got the 1st one was smell the sound hole, "yeah, addmittingly I am a sound hole sniffer". I wouldn't call it a flowery fragrance. But it is a very earthy fragrance. Not offensive by far, but I guess I was expecting a potpori kinda smell, hahhah.. But, it does have a bushy, thorny earthy smell if that makes any sense at all. Kinda cool smell really.
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