Batis maritima

Saltwort, beachwort, Beachwort

Family: Bataceae · Type: perennial · Native

Saltwort is a California native perennial found in southern coastal regions in coastal salt marshes at elevations below 10 meters. Flowering from April to September, this plant produces white flowers in small staminate and pistillate clusters. Growing prostrate to ascending with woody bases up to 1.5 meters tall, it forms low-spreading mats in salt marsh environments. Its leaves are linear to narrowly oblanceolate, approximately cylindrical and 1 to 2 centimeters long, with a slightly flattened upper surface. The fruit develops as a fleshy, spongy structure approximately 10 millimeters long that becomes corky with age.

Habitat: Coastal salt marshes

Bloom period: Apr-Sep

Elevation: < 10 m

Bioregions: SCo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.