The kiawe is a spreading bush or moderately sized tree, bearing spines, spikes of greenish-yellow flowers, and long pods filled with small brown seeds. It is a successful invasive species due to its ability to reproduce in two ways: production of large numbers of easily dispersed seeds, and suckering to create thick monotypic stands that shade ...

Aug 25, 2021 · Rugged, barbed, and wild, the kiawe trees of Maui offer an incongruous and yet dramatic touch to the island’s lovely landscape.

Oct 8, 2016 · It is a species of the mesquite tree; its scientific name is Prosopis pallida. It is a thorny legume, native to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Considered an invasive species in other places it...

Long-thorn kiawe can grow as a rambling shrub or tree ranging from 6′ to 30′ tall. The thorns are up to 4″ long. It’s pale yellow flowers are numerous and grow in cylinder-shaped spikes up to 4″ long. Mature seed pods are flat, curved, yellowish brown and 3-8 inches long.

Kiawe is used principally as a cover tree for erosion control on and land. As recently as 1915, it was considered the most valuable tree in Hawaii for a variety of other reasons. Its pods and seed are nutritious fodder.

Dec 1, 1990 · Kiawe is an intolerant tree and is shaded out by faster growing plants on wet sites. On dry sites the grasses, koa haole, and opuima, with which it commonly associates, remain so sparse that abundant sunlight reaches the kiawe.

Jul 15, 2021 · The Westside resident thinks kiawe trees can revolutionize Oahu's food system and help the next generation learn to love where they live.

Apr 12, 2024 · It is also known as the honey locust, honey pod, cashew, and July flower (the algaroba name comes from “Al-kharrubah,” the Spanish name of the carob tree, or St. John’s bread, the pods of which it resembles in flavor.) (We call it kiawe.)

Oct 2, 2022 · Known as Prosopis pallida, kiawe is a species of mesquite that is native to dry coastal areas of Columbia, Ecuador and Peru. The trees are in the Fabaceae or Bean family meaning they are able...

Kiawe or algarroba, an introduced deciduous usually spiny tree, is one of the most common trees and perhaps most useful of the dry lowlands of Hawaii. Recognized by the irregular short trunk and wide spreading thin crown of small twice compound leaves and by the beanlike nar-row, slightly flattened, yellowish pods. Mimosa subfam-ily (Mimosoideae).