Balaka insularis
{{Short description|Species of palm}}
{{Speciesbox
|image =
|status = CR
|status_system = IUCN2.3
|status_ref = {{Cite journal | author = Whistler, A. | author2 = Johnson, D. | name-list-style = amp | title = Drymophloeus samoensis | journal = The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species | volume = 1998 | page = e.T38514A10126399 | publisher = IUCN | date = 1998 | url = http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/38514/0 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.1998.RLTS.T38514A10126399.en | access-date = 15 January 2018| doi-access = free }}
|display_parents = 4
|genus = Balaka
|parent_authority =
|species = insularis
|authority = Zona & W.J.Baker
|synonyms = Solfia samoensis
Drymophloeus samoensis (Rech.) Becc. ex Martelli
}}
Balaka insularis is a rare species of flowering plant in the palm family endemic to Samoa. It was formerly placed in the monotypic genus Solfia with the species name Solfia samoensis.[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=192898 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families] It was placed in the genus Balaka in 2014.Zona S, Baker WJ. 2014. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270451807_Solfia_transferred_to_Balaka Solfia transferred to Balaka]. Palms 58: 191–192.
Description
The trunk is solitary and ringed, colored brown, no more than 8 cm wide. The sheath of the pinnate leaf is extended, wrapping around the trunk to form a tall, slender crownshaft. The petiole is short, the thin rachis bears regularly spaced, reduplicate leaflets with a prominent midrib and jagged ends. The inflorescence emerges below the crownshaft, initially enclosed by a prophyll, with a single peduncular bract. Monoecious, there are staminate and pistillate flowers present in each plant, borne on the rachillae as triads of two males surrounding one female. Fleshy and red when ripe, the fruit becomes wrinkled when dry, carrying one seed with homogeneous endosperm.Uhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John (1987) Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. {{ISBN|0-935868-30-5}} / {{ISBN|978-0-935868-30-2}}
Distribution and habitat
Balaka insularis is one of the palms confined to Samoa, growing in wet, mountainous, montane rain and cloud forests, exceeding 500 m. Palms endemic to Samoa also include Balaka samoensis, Balaka tahitensis, and Clinostigma samoense.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120912153658/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?21823 Solfia on NPGS/GRIN]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20111207063836/http://palmguide.org/genus.php?family=ARECACEAE&genus=Solfia Fairchild Guide to Palms]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20101128152635/http://palmguide.org/images.php?family=ARECACEAE&genus=Solfia Fairchild images]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174953/http://data.gbif.org/species/14722045 GBIF portal]
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q64348179|from2=Q3008322|from3=Q28806739}}