(Health Education Building)

Kauila, Colubrina oppositifolia Brongn, ex H. Mann, is a medium-tree, with thin oblong leaves which are bright green on both sides. This is a rare native tree found only in Hawaii and Oahu. It's a member of the family Rhamnaceae (Buckthorn family). The bark of the tree is light brown, with a very hard, reddish wood that sinks in water. The wood was formerly valued by the early Hawaiians for spears and tapa beaters. Part of the plant was also used medicinally.

The Hawaiian kauila (Alphitonia ponderosa Hillebr.) also produces dense wood that sinks in water. Its leaves are alternate, thin, oblong, grayish to rusty wooly on the undersurface. This species is found in the six largest Hawaiian islands. This is one of the hardest, densest native wood that replaced metals in the economy of the ancient Hawaiians.