''Balaka'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of 9 known

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

in the palm family,

Arecaceae The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...

Palmae The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...

. Seven species are native to the islands of

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

and two to

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> The genus was first proposed and published in ''Annales du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg'' 2: 91. 1885, from two species originally in the genus ''

Ptychosperma ''Ptychosperma'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. Most are native to Australia and/or New Guinea, with a few in the Solomon Islands and in Maluku Province of eastern Indonesia. Some have been cultivated abroad as house or ...

'' (''P. perbrevis'' and ''P. seemannii'').Original text, archived at the

Biodiversity Heritage Library The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as worldwide consortiumof natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working toge ...

, by genus author

Species

Accepted species: * '' Balaka diffusa'' Hodel - Fiji * '' Balaka longirostris'' Becc. - Fiji * '' Balaka macrocarpa'' Burret - Fiji * '' Balaka microcarpa'' Burret - Fiji * '' Balaka pauciflora'' (H.Wendl.) H.E.Moore - Fiji * '' Balaka samoensis'' Becc. - Samoa * '' Balaka seemannii'' (H.Wendl.) Becc. - Fiji * ''

Balaka streptostachys ''Balaka streptostachys'' is a critically endangered species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found only in Fiji. It grows to a height of and in diameter. It is distinct from the other ''Balaka'' species because of the twists i ...

'' D.Fuller & Dowe - Fiji * '' Balaka tahitensis'' Christoph. - Samoa

References

Arecaceae genera Taxa named by Odoardo Beccari {{Areceae-stub