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Alphitonia ponderosa
Also called Kauila
Hawai'i kauila is a medium to large native tree of the Hawaiian Islands, valued for its strong, dense reddish-brown wood. It is a rare species that is hard to grow outside its native habitat and is best treated as a patient, long-term garden subject.
Alphitonia ponderosa is a species of flowering tree in the family Rhamnaceae, that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. It is locally known as kauila, as is the related Colubrina oppositifolia.
The reddish-brown wood of A. ponderosa is highly prized for its beauty, strength, and density. It was used as a replacement for metal by the Native Hawaiians, who made laʻau melomelo (fishing lures), pāhoa (daggers), ihe (short spears), pololū (long spears), ʻōʻō (digging sticks), hohoa (round kapa, beaters) ʻiʻe kūkū (square kapa beaters), leiomano (shark tooth clubs), and kiʻi (tiki carvings) with it.
Red ash · Alphitonia franguloides · Alphitonia marquesensis · Pink ash · Red ash · Toi · Alphitonia
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Alphitonia ponderosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
