Also tooa. [Native name in many Polynesian langs.] A species of Casuarina (C. equisetifolia) found in the South Sea Islands.
Its wood, known from its color and hardness as South Sea Ironwood, is used by the natives for their clubs.
1817. Mariner, Acc. Tonga Isl., I. viii. 244. The whistling of the wind among the branches of the lofty toa. Ibid., 245. Restrictions respecting cutting down the Toa tree.
1823. Byron, Island, II. i. We will sit in twilight’s face, and see The sweet moon glancing through the tooa tree.
