ʻAmakihi in Koa, Wreath by Naiʻa Odachi
ʻamakihi- A group of small endemic Hawaiian honey creepers, Loxops virens; abundant on Hawaiʻi (L. v. v.), Maui (L. v. wilsoni), and Kauaʻi, uncommon on Oʻahu (L. v. chloris) and Molokaʻi, rare on Lā-naʻi. The feathers are yellow and greenish, and were formerly used in feather capes.
koa- The largest of native forest trees (Acacia koa), with light-gray bark, crescent-shaped leaves, and white flowers in small, round heads. A legume with fine, red wood, a valuable lumber tree, formerly used for canoes, surfboards, calabashes, now for furniture and ukuleles. A small koa was sometimes added to the hula altar to Laka, goddess of the hula, to make the dancer fearless. (Neal 408–11.) The name koa may be qualified by the terms kā, kū ma kua, kū mauna. E ola koa, live like a koa tree [i.e. long]. (PPN toa.)
