Atripliceae are a tribe of the subfamily

Chenopodioideae 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 family Chenopodiaceae in the Cronquist ...

belonging to the plant family Amaranthaceae. ''

Atriplex ''Atriplex'' () is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache (; also spelled orach). It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae ''s.l.''. The genus is quite variable and w ...

'' is the largest genus of the tribe. Species of Atripiceae are ecologically important in

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

and semi-desert climates.

Distribution

Most of the species are distributed in Africa,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, with some others spread out worldwide.

Taxonomy

Traditional taxonomy of Atripliceae based on morphological features has been controversial. Molecular studies have found that many genera are not true

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

s. One such study found that Atripliceae could be divided into two main clades, Archiatriplex, with a few, scattered species, and the larger

clade, which is highly diverse and found around the world.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5711159 Chenopodioideae Caryophyllales tribes