[5] 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.

The plants are often covered with bladderlike hairs, that later collapse and form a silvery, scurfy or mealy surface, rarely with elongate trichomes.

[14] The genus evolved in Middle Miocene, the C4-photosynthesis pathway developed about 14.1–10.9 million years ago (mya), when the climate became increasingly dry.

[21] For spiders such as Phidippus californicus and other arthropods, saltbush plants offer opportunities to hide and hunt in habitat that is otherwise often quite barren.

[citation needed] It has been proposed that genus Atriplex was a main food source in the diet of the extinct giant kangaroo Procoptodon goliah.

[22] Stable isotopic data suggested that their diet consisted of plants that used the C4 photosynthetic pathway, and due to their semi-arid distribution, chenopod saltbushes were likely responsible.

Common orache (A. patula) is attested as an archaeophyte in northern Europe, and the Ertebølle culture is presumed to have used it as a food.

[29] Its seed has been found among apparent evidence of cereal preparation and cooking at Late Iron Age villages in Britain.

Chamiso (A. canescens) and shadscale (A. confertifolia) were eaten by Native Americans, and spearscale (A. hastata) was a food in rural Eurasia.

[32] The vitamin E levels could have animal health benefits while extending the shelf-life and maintaining the fresh red colour of saltbush lamb.

[33][32] A study on A. nummularia discovered the species have a nitrogen content of 2.5–3.5%, and could potentially be used as a protein supplement for grazing if palatable.

[34] A subsequent study allowed sheep and goats to voluntarily feed on Atriplex halimus and aimed to determine if the saltbush was palatable, and if so, did it provide enough nutrients to supplement the diet of these animals.

[35] In this study they determined when goats and sheep are given as much A. halimus as they like, they do obtain enough nutrients to supplement their diet – unless the animal requirements are higher during pregnancy and milk production.