''Batis'' (turtleweed, saltwort, beachwort, or pickleweed) is a genus of two species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s, the only genus in the family Bataceae. They are

halophytic A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs and seashores. ...

(salt tolerant) plants, native to the coastal

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

es of warm temperate and tropical America (''B. maritima'') and tropical

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

(''B. argillicola'').

Morphology and taxonomy

Both species are

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

, low shrubs growing to 10–70 cm tall, prostrate where colonizing new mud, but once rooted, growing bushy. The leaves are small, swollen, fleshy, and narrowly club-shaped. They are bright green, but can also take on a reddish color. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are small, produced in nonshowy spikes, flowering from midsummer to fall. The American species is dioecious, while the Australasian species is monoecious. Some botanists divide ''B. maritima'' into five species, with ''B. californica'', ''B. fruticosa'', ''B. spinosa'' and ''B. vermiculatus'' split off, but this interpretation is not widely followed.

Range and habitat

''Batis'' has the ability to live in salty environments. When other plants are exposed to salty soil or water, they lose most of their stored water, but ''Batis'' has adapted to this environment and does not have these problems. To help it survive in this salty habitat, its fleshy leaves are covered with very fine hairs that reduce the amount of water the plant loses to the air. An example habitat of occurrence of ''Batis maritima'' is in the Petenes mangroves ecoregion of the Yucatán. Not many animals can eat it because it is too salty, but

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

eat ''B. maritima'' as part of their diets. Eastern pygmy-blue butterflies collect the nectar from its flowers. ''B. maritima'' is becoming rare in some areas, and some scientists think it should be added to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

endangered species list, though it has also become an invasive species in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

after accidental introduction there.

Terminology

The genus ''

Salsola ''Salsola'' is a genus of the subfamily Salsoloideae in the family Amaranthaceae. The genus ''sensu stricto'' is distributed in central and southwestern Asia, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. A common name of various members of this genus and ...

'' is also sometimes known as saltwort, but is unrelated.

Uses

''Batis maritima'' was used by Native Americans as a food, the

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...

s were chewed (like

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

) or boiled into a beverage, while the stems and leaves were eaten raw, cooked or pickled. ''B. argillicola'' is also eaten as a

green vegetable Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, pot herbs, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad gre ...

. An analysis of saltwort's peppercorn-sized seeds has revealed they are extremely nutritious, having high quantities of

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...

s, oils, and starche

The

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s are edible, having a nutty taste, and they can be added to salads, toasted, or even made into miniature popcorn.Article on the studies done on Saltwort by Massimo Marcone
. It was originally published at newscientist.com

/ref> The oil is almost identical to

safflower oil Safflower (''Carthamus tinctorius'') is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual plant in the family Asteraceae. It is commercially cultivated for vegetable oil extracted from the seeds and was used by the early Spanish colonies along ...

, which is used for cooking and in salad dressings, as well as for making margarine. The seeds also contain beneficial antioxidants, such as tocopherols, which are thought to fight cancer.

References

''Batis argillicola'' in Flora of Western Australia''Batis argillicola'' in Online Field guide to Common Saltmarsh Plants of Queensland
{{Taxonbar, from=Q134459 Brassicales Brassicales genera Halophytes