Tree · Fabaceae
Koa
Acacia koa
Koa is recorded as native to 1 state or territory in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 4 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Koa at a glance
- Native in
- 4 counties, across 1 state or territory
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 10b PLANTS minimum temperature 31°F
- Mature height
- 110 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 10b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 31°F; zone 10b winters bottom out at 35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Koa is recorded as native to 1 state or territory in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 4 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 4 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 4 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Hawaii 4 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 110 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Year Round
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 50 to 200 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 30 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 31°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 10b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 365
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- Yes
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- High
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Fabaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ACKO
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Acacia koa (PLANTS symbol ACKO).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources