diff --git a/jax/experimental/sparse/__init__.py b/jax/experimental/sparse/__init__.py
index 1887c4cc0dbc..042b40ee0253 100644
--- a/jax/experimental/sparse/__init__.py
+++ b/jax/experimental/sparse/__init__.py
@@ -217,6 +217,9 @@
     BCOO as BCOO,
 )
 
+from jax.experimental.sparse.bcsr import (
+    BCSR as BCSR,
+)
 from jax.experimental.sparse.api import (
     empty as empty,
     eye as eye,
diff --git a/jax/experimental/sparse/api.py b/jax/experimental/sparse/api.py
index 49551fadcf8d..8d1a3356adec 100644
--- a/jax/experimental/sparse/api.py
+++ b/jax/experimental/sparse/api.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 from jax import tree_util
 from jax.experimental.sparse._base import JAXSparse
 from jax.experimental.sparse.bcoo import BCOO
+from jax.experimental.sparse.bcsr import BCSR
 from jax.experimental.sparse.coo import COO
 from jax.experimental.sparse.csr import CSR, CSC
 from jax.experimental.sparse.util import _coo_extract
@@ -116,7 +117,7 @@ def empty(shape, dtype=None, index_dtype='int32', sparse_format='bcoo', **kwds):
   Returns:
     mat: empty sparse matrix.
   """
-  formats = {'bcoo': BCOO, 'coo': COO, 'csr': CSR, 'csc': CSC}
+  formats = {'bcsr': BCSR, 'bcoo': BCOO, 'coo': COO, 'csr': CSR, 'csc': CSC}
   if sparse_format not in formats:
     raise ValueError(f"sparse_format={sparse_format!r} not recognized; "
                      f"must be one of {list(formats.keys())}")
diff --git a/jax/experimental/sparse/bcsr.py b/jax/experimental/sparse/bcsr.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f22d36b9c764
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jax/experimental/sparse/bcsr.py
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+# Copyright 2022 The JAX Authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""BCSR (Bached compressed row) matrix object and associated primitives."""
+
+from typing import Tuple
+
+from jax import core
+from jax.experimental.sparse._base import JAXSparse
+from jax.experimental.sparse.util import _safe_asarray
+import jax.numpy as jnp
+from jax.util import split_list
+
+Shape = Tuple[int, ...]
+
+
+class BCSR(JAXSparse):
+  """Experimental batched CSR matrix implemented in JAX."""
+
+  data: jnp.ndarray
+  indices: jnp.ndarray
+  indptr: jnp.ndarray
+  shape: Shape
+  nse = property(lambda self: self.indices.shape[-1])
+  dtype = property(lambda self: self.data.dtype)
+  n_batch = property(lambda self: self.indices.ndim - 1)
+  n_sparse = property(lambda _: 2)
+  n_dense = property(lambda self: self.data.ndim - self.indices.ndim)
+
+  @property
+  def _sparse_shape(self):
+    return tuple(self.shape[self.n_batch:self.n_batch + 2])
+
+  def __init__(self, args, *, shape):
+    # JAX transforms will sometimes instantiate pytrees with null values, so we
+    # must catch that in the initialization of inputs.
+    self.data, self.indices, self.indptr = _safe_asarray(args)
+    super().__init__(args, shape=shape)
+
+  def __repr__(self):
+    name = self.__class__.__name__
+    try:
+      nse = self.nse
+      n_batch = self.n_batch
+      n_dense = self.n_dense
+      dtype = self.dtype
+      shape = list(self.shape)
+    except Exception:  # pylint: disable=broad-except
+      repr_ = f"{name}(<invalid>)"
+    else:
+      extra = f", nse={nse}"
+      if n_batch: extra += f", n_batch={n_batch}"
+      if n_dense: extra += f", n_dense={n_dense}"
+      repr_ = f"{name}({dtype}{shape}{extra})"
+    if isinstance(self.data, core.Tracer):
+      repr_ = f"{type(self.data).__name__}[{repr_}]"
+    return repr_
+
+  def transpose(self, *args, **kwargs):
+    raise NotImplementedError("Tranpose is not implemented.")
+
+  def tree_flatten(self):
+    return (self.data, self.indices, self.indptr), {}
+
+  @classmethod
+  def _empty(cls, shape, *, dtype=None, index_dtype='int32', n_dense=0,
+             n_batch=0, nse=0):
+    """Create an empty BCSR instance. Public method is sparse.empty()."""
+    shape = tuple(shape)
+    if n_dense < 0 or n_batch < 0 or nse < 0:
+      raise ValueError(f"Invalid inputs: shape={shape}, n_dense={n_dense},"
+                       f"n_batch={n_batch}, nse={nse}")
+    n_sparse = len(shape) - n_dense - n_batch
+    if n_sparse != 2:
+      raise ValueError("BCSR sparse.empty: must have 2 sparse dimensions.")
+    batch_shape, sparse_shape, dense_shape = split_list(shape,
+                                                        [n_batch, n_sparse])
+    data = jnp.zeros((*batch_shape, nse, *dense_shape), dtype)
+    indices = jnp.full((*batch_shape, nse), jnp.array(sparse_shape[1]),
+                       index_dtype)
+    indptr = jnp.zeros((*batch_shape, sparse_shape[0] + 1), index_dtype)
+    return cls((data, indices, indptr), shape=shape)
diff --git a/tests/sparse_test.py b/tests/sparse_test.py
index 5fa672ed85d7..c38568c051e2 100644
--- a/tests/sparse_test.py
+++ b/tests/sparse_test.py
@@ -2275,6 +2275,18 @@ def f(X, y):
 
 
 class SparseObjectTest(jtu.JaxTestCase):
+  @parameterized.named_parameters(
+    {"testcase_name": f"_{cls.__name__}", "cls": cls}
+    for cls in [sparse.CSR, sparse.CSC, sparse.COO, sparse.BCOO, sparse.BCSR])
+  def test_pytree_flattening(self, cls):
+    sparse_format = cls.__name__.lower()
+    M = sparse.empty((2, 4), sparse_format=sparse_format)
+    self.assertIsInstance(M, cls)
+    buffers, tree = tree_util.tree_flatten(M)
+    M_out = tree_util.tree_unflatten(tree, buffers)
+    self.assertEqual(M.dtype, M_out.dtype)
+    self.assertEqual(M.shape, M_out.shape)
+    self.assertEqual(M.nse, M_out.nse)
 
   @parameterized.named_parameters(
     {"testcase_name": f"_{cls.__name__}", "cls": cls}