Atriplex is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache. It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae s.l..
The genus is quite variable and widely distributed. It includes many desert and seashore plants and halophytes, as well as plants of moist environments.
The generic name originated in Latin and was applied by Pliny the Elder to the edible oraches. The name saltbush derives from the fact that the plants retain salt in their leaves; they are able to grow in areas affected by soil salination.
Atriplex elegans
Atriplex hymenelytra
Atriplex lentiformis
Atriplex nummularia
The Chenopodioideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae in the APG III system, which is largely based on molecular phylogeny, but were included – together with other subfamilies – in the family Chenopodiaceae, or goosefoot family, in the Cronquist system.
Chenopodioideae
Good King Henry (Blitum bonus-henricus), tribe Anserineae
Chenopodium spinescens, tribe Atripliceae
Grayia spinosa, tribe Atripliceae