This tree was growing here when the Polynesians came. Besides being used to make canoes and calabashes, it was used for medicine.

To make a patient who had been lying for a long time on his sick bed (a pile of lau-hala mats) more comfortable, enough "leaves" were gathered to cover the top of the sleeping mats, and spread evenly. The patient would lie on top of the "leaves". The heat that came from the body and the "leaves" made the patient sweat. Someone would keep wiping off the sweat, and soon the patient would fall asleep because of the restful condition of the body. This cure was almost always used when a patient had a fever,

When children, between 6 months and 1 year of age became weak, they were given a mixture of ashes of koa "leaves" and other plants.