Family: Fabaceae

Kiawe is a thorny tree that escaped from cultivation to invade dry forests across the state.

Native to Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador, the first Kiawe seeds came by way of France. A single specimen was imported in 1828 by Father Bachelot, the first Catholic priest in the Hawaiian Islands. For a few years, the tree grew in the corner of his churchyard. The Kiawe tree began producing viable seeds in 1832. By 1840 it was the principal shade tree for the city. Honolulu lacked shade trees at the time as not many species could grow in such hot and dry areas. Eventually, it would invade more than 150,00 acres in Hawaii, all from the initial seed source.

Description and Dispersal:

• A single-stemmed tree armed with thorns.
  
• Younger branches often have a zig-zagging appearance.
  
• Leaves are twice-compound and usually have two to four pairs of branchlets.
  
• Globe shaped fluffy flowers are yellowish.
  
• Elongated pods contain several seeds.
  
• Seeds are dispersed by animals and water.

High Risk Traits:

• Naturalized several locations worldwide
  
• Serious weed of rangelands and the environment
  
• Other Prosopis species have become invasive
  
• Possesses thorns
  
• Possibly allelopathic
  
• Tolerates many soil conditions
  
• Thicket-forming
  
• Hybridizes with other Prosopis species
  
• Reaches maturity in 3 years or more
  
• Pods and seeds eaten and dispersed by animals (livestock)
  
• Pods and seeds moved by water
  
• Forms a persistent seed bank
  
• Coppices and resprouts after cutting

Low Risk Traits:

• Fodder tree for livestock
  
• Mostly Shade-intolerant
  
• Self-incompatible
  
• Timber tree and source of firewood
  
• Herbicides may provide effective control