Flora of North America species comparison

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Batis maritima

Bataceae

beachwort, saltwort, turtleweed, vidrillos

saltwort family
Habit Plants usually less than 1 m. Main stems 2–4 cm diam. at base; branches rooting at nodes and tips. Subshrubs; (halophytic); spines absent; largely glabrous.
Stems

branches arching or prostrate;

branchlets drooping or erect.
Leaves

blades 5–20 × 2–3 mm, apex rounded to acuminate, adaxial surface flattened.

(cauline), opposite, simple (each with a basal-abaxial appendage);

stipules caducous, (paired, minute);

petioles absent;

blade (succulent), margins entire.
Inflorescences

axillary or terminal, conelike spikes (catkins) [lax and spikelike or solitary flowers].
Spikes

6 × 4 mm, flowers inconspicuous.

Flowers

unisexual, staminate and pistillate on different plants [same plant in different inflorescences], actinomorphic;

bracts present.
Staminate flowers

tepals spatulate or tapered, 3 × 3 mm;

filaments 2 mm;

anthers 0.7 mm.

each initially enclosed in sac splitting into 2 lobes (spathella);

tepals 4 or 5, distinct, white, equal, base long-clawed [tapered];

androecium hypogynous;

nectary glands absent;

stamens 4 or 5, alternating with and longer than tepals;

filaments distinct;

anthers dehiscing by longitudinal slits.
Pistillate flowers

connate at maturity, subsessile, 6 × 4 mm.

bracteate;

tepals absent;

pistil 1, 2-carpellate;

ovary falsely 4-loculed;

placentation basal-parietal;

ovules anatropous, bitegmic;

style absent;

stigmas 2-lobed.
Fruits

drupaceous syncarps [drupes], ellipsoid.
Seeds

3 × 1 mm.

1–4, narrow, flattened.
Syncarps

green, 10 × 6–7 mm, spongy.

2n

= 22.

Batis maritima

Bataceae
Phenology Flowering (Jan-)Apr–Sep [year-round in the tropics].
Habitat Saline or brackish, often wet, open, maritime shores, salt marshes, dune swales, saline or brackish lagoons, sandy shell plateaus, shore hummocks, muddy or sandy tidal flats, often with mangroves, especially Avicennia
Elevation 0-10 m (0-0 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; CA; FL; GA; LA; NC; SC; TX; Mexico; Central America; West Indies; n South America; Pacific Islands (Galapagos Islands, Hawaii)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Mexico; Central America; s North America; West Indies; n South America; Pacific Islands (Galapagos Islands, Hawaii, s New Guinea); n Australia
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Batis maritima probably is naturalized in Hawaii (W. Hillebrand 1888). Plants frequently cover large areas in dense, tangled stands and are tolerant of very high salinity and water-logging, including inundation for considerable periods (R. F. Thorne 1954).

The salty leaves and stems of Batis maritima have been eaten in salads, used as potherbs, or pickled (G. K. Rogers 1982c). According to K. D. Perkins and W. W. Payne (1978), when eaten in large quantities by livestock, B. maritima is thought to be poisonous. Like other halophytes, it has been burned for ash. Also, it has been used medicinally to prevent or treat skin problems, ulcers, kidney and bladder stones, and other medicinal problems (Rogers).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Genus 1, species 2 (1 in the flora).

Bataceae are warm-temperate, subtropical, and tropical, coastal halophytes. Because of their proclivity to inhabit saline habitats and because of morphological similarities to halophytic members of Chenopodiaceae, early taxonomists tended to place Bataceae in the Chenopodiales (Centrospermae). The absence of betalains (T. J. Mabry and B. L. Turner 1964), dissimilarity of sieve-element plastid types (H.-D. Behnke and Turner 1971), and dissimilar chromosome numbers (P. Goldblatt 1976) rule out that relationship. Phylogeneticists now accept Bataceae as a member of Brassicales (Capparales) based on the presence of glucosinolates (Mabry 1976) and myrosinase, and molecular similarities (J. E. Rodman et al. 1998). In Brassicales, there are similarities to the Australian Gyrostemonaceae and Salvadoraceae (B. Prijanto 1970; S. Carlquist 1978; Rodman et al.).

The fruits and seeds are water-dispersed. The succulent syncarps can float for one or two weeks before releasing the one-seeded pyrenes, which also can float up to three months before germinating after reaching land (H. B. Guppy 1903–1906, vol. 2).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 187. FNA vol. 7, p. 186. Author: Robert F. Thorne.
Parent taxa Bataceae > Batis
Subordinate taxa
Synonyms B. californica
Name authority Linnaeus: Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 2: 1289. (1759) Martius ex Perleb
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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