Acacia koa

Acacia koa is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, where it is the second most common tree. The highest populations are on Hawaiʻi, Maui and Oʻahu. Its name in the Hawaiian language, koa, also means brave, bold, fearless, or warrior.

Description

Koa is a large tree, typically attaining a height of 15–25 m (49–82 ft) and a spread of 6–12 m (20–39 ft). In deep volcanic ash, a koa tree can reach a height of 30 m (98 ft), a circumference of 6 m (20 ft), and a spread of 38 m (125 ft). It is one of the fastest-growing Hawaiian trees, capable of reaching 6–9 m (20–30 ft) in five years on a good site.

Leaves

Initially, bipinnately compound leaves with 12–24 pairs of leaflets grow on the koa plant, much like other members of the pea family. At about 6–9 months of age, however, thick sickle-shaped "leaves" that are not compound begin to grow. These are phyllodes, blades that develop as an expansion of the leaf petiole. The vertically flattened orientation of the phyllodes allows sunlight to pass to lower levels of the tree. True leaves are entirely replaced by 7–25 cm (2.8–9.8 in) long, 0.5–2.5 cm (0.20–0.98 in) wide phyllodes on an adult tree.

Koa (disambiguation)

Koa or KOA may refer to:

KOA (AM)

KOA is a clear-channel AM radio station licensed to Denver, Colorado. Owned by iHeartMedia, it serves the Denver-Boulder and Colorado Springs, Colorado markets. Nicknamed "the Blowtorch of the West", KOA has studios in Southeast Denver, while the transmitter site is in Parker. KOA broadcasts a news/talk format, and is also the flagship station of the Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies, and Colorado Buffaloes.

KOA was first owned by General Electric and began broadcasting in 1924. The station started with 5,000 watts, and in 1927, increased to 12,500 watts. On July 7, 1934, power was raised to the current level of 50,000 watts. KOA is the dominant clear-channel station on 850 AM; at night, the signal can be heard in over 30 states of the U.S. and over most of Canada and Mexico. KOA sometimes can be picked up in California, and is usually picked up in Central Washington state, both locations are west of the Rocky Mountains, an obstacle that prevents most east coast radio stations from traveling west of the Rockies. As of November 1, 2015, KOA also broadcasts on 94.1 FM via the translator K231BQ in Golden, Colorado.