Balaka is a genus of 11 known species in the palm family, Arecaceae or Palmae. Seven species are native to the islands of Fiji and four to Samoa.[2] The genus was first proposed and published in Annales du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg 2: 91. 1885,[1] from two species originally in the genus Ptychosperma (P. perbrevis and P. seemannii).[3]