This member of the Chenopodiaceae family was given this name by George Bentham in 1870. It is found in central and eastern Australia, where it grows along creeks and on floodplains in a well drained soil with lost of light and some water. It will form a small bush with a stem up to seven centimetres in diameter and one meter high, and get yellow flowers.

The genera name from the Cherangani Hills in Kenya. The species name means 'esemblance to the genus Nitraria', alluding to the species' habit.

^*)Accordantly to the latest taxonomic system; APG IV 2016, Chenopodiaceae is now part of the Amaranthaceae.