[1] Camphorosmeae species are mostly dwarf shrubs or annuals (rarely perennial herbs) with spreading or ascending branches.

The inconspicuous flowers sit solitary or in axillary clusters of 2–3 (5) in the axil of a subtending bract.

The pollen grains differ from Salsoloideae by greater diameter, and higher number of smaller pores with fewer spinulae per operculum.

The horizontal or more rarely vertical ovary is uniovulate, with a distinct style and 2 filiform stigmas with papillae on the entire surface.

The seed with thin testa contains an annular or folded embryo sometimes engirdling a rudimentary central perisperm.

The group evolved in the Early Miocene, probably deriving from halophytic plants growing at seashores in a warm-temperate climate.

The subfamily spread from Eurasia to Australia, North America and at least two times to South Africa.

Alfred Moquin-Tandon classified it as a tribe in 1840, and A J Scott raised it to subfamily level as "Camphorosmoideae" in 1978.

Phylogenetic research by Kadereit & Freitag (2011) revealed that the traditional classification of the group did not reflect evolutionary relationships.