(Liberal Arts Classroom Building)

Kalia, Eleocarpus bifidus (Hook & Arnott), is an endemic tree that can reach a height of 30 to 40 feet in places such as Kokee, with a trunk of several inches to sometimes a foot in diameter. The tree has never moved down the island chain beyond Oahu, perhaps because of the size and weight of the seeds, which sink in the water and thus would not be carried by ocean currents.

The dark green leaves of the Kalia are smooth and ovate. The flowers have five petals, greenish, and quite inconspicuous. Often a mite injures the flower cluster, causing a malformed, gall-like growth that turns red and can be mistaken for the flower itself. The fruit is over one inch long, dull green to greenish-yellow turning black, with one to two seeds.

The bark of the Kalia is dark gray and roughened, and its fibers were once used for cordage. The wood is medium hard, very light yellow, with fine texture. The tree's long slender branches, which tend to droop and are gummy at the ends, were used for thatch roofs in the construction of grass huts.