Plants relatively low, sprawling. Leaf blades obovoid to oblanceoloid. Spikes subsessile, ellipsoid, subglobose, or turbinate [lax, bracteate, flowers solitary]. Flowers anemophilous; filaments slender, or sometimes winged; anthers versatile, dorsifixed; stigmas sessile, papillate. Syncarps each with 1–4 seeds (pyrenes). Seeds narrow, flattened; coats thin. x = 11.

Distribution

s North America, Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, Pacific Islands (Galapagos Islands, Hawaii, s New Guinea), Australia.

Discussion

Species 2 (1 in the flora).

Batis argillicola P. Royen occurs along the coasts of southern New Guinea and northern Australia. It differs from B. maritima in being monoecious and having solitary flowers, shorter leaves, tepals of staminate flowers each with one vascular bundle and a tapered base, and winged filaments. Wood anatomy and habit of the two species are similar. There was an earlier dubious chromosome count of x = 9.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

Batis maritima