A Very Bad Tree!

One of our 100' tall Albizia trees

When we bought our house in 2012, our realtor pointed out several lovely looking trees and warned us that we would want to have them removed.   WHY?  We asked.  Well, the Albizia is a fast growing tree that is invasive (weedy) in native ohia forests in Hawaii, especially in Puna on the Big Island. as well as on land disturbed by human activities. Albizia causes ohia to die off, and makes the environment more favorable for other invasive species (clidemia, guava, and possibly miconia and the coqui frog.)   (These trees were apparently imported from New Guinea or Solomon Island where they are cut down and used.)

Bad tree!  One tree can cover a whole acre!

Treated with poison, the tree dies fast.

Known as "The Tree that Ate Puna, "  the albizia's beautiful appearance is deceptive.  Their brittle wood and weak structure pose a hazard to nearby infrastructure. Cars and houses have been flattened, and people severely injured and nearly killed by these forest monsters.


This was particularly true in 2014 when Hurricane Iselle came ashore just a few miles from our house.  Hundreds and hundreds of these junk trees fell, causing power outages that for some residents lasted week
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Recently the both the state and county agencies have united with Hawaii University and other concerned citizen groups to create programs to help eradicate these invasive trees.  Neighbors have attended seminars and have been provided with a new potent poison called "Milestone" that can kill a big tree in only one week!! This last week, we carefully applied just a few drops of this to another 100' tree, and in only a week, the top limbs and leaves are dying.

(Credit for aerial photos:  Big Island Now)