Pololei! And the story I will tell amounts to an answer to the question: "Was hala present in the islands when our ancestors arrived, or was it one of the canoe plants brought for its vital utility in everyday life?" For a long time, the answer was given as the latter: hala was not considered an indigenous plant, but a polynesian introduction, that set of perhaps 50-80 plants and animals that were purposefully or accidentally brought by the voyaging canoes.
Then the lava molds of hala fruit, similar to those above in flows from Kilauea, were found in very ancient flows near Hanalei Bay on Kaua'i in Koloa series flows preceding human arrival. So now hala of at least one species is confirmed present before people, joining the ranks of maybe 1200 different plants.
Wow, fascinating! To me, this confirms what many of us feel: The knowledge base of "science" is ever-changing, especially in regards to ka wa kahiko. That which is told to us by our kupuna and na makani is likely to be just as scientifically correct as current assumptions...that is, it will be when science catches up! For now, we have to be sure not to get stuck in that perspective which holds "scientific validity" at any given moment, because like the hala we have risen and fallen since time immemorial through so many waves of change...
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Then the lava molds of hala fruit, similar to those above in flows from Kilauea, were found in very ancient flows near Hanalei Bay on Kaua'i in Koloa series flows preceding human arrival. So now hala of at least one species is confirmed present before people, joining the ranks of maybe 1200 different plants.