Herbs annual, 15-30 cm tall. Stem often branched throughout; branches yellow-green, obtusely 4-angled, mostly furfuraceous. Leaves petiolate, upper ones subsessile; petiole (when present) 2-6 mm; leaf blade ovate-triangular to rhombic-ovate, 2-3 × 1-2.5 cm, abaxially densely gray-white furfuraceous, adaxially gray-green, base rounded to broadly cuneate, margin sparsely serrate, with a larger pair of lobelike teeth near base, or only 1 pair of lobes and remainder entire, apex subobtuse. Inflorescences axillary glomerules. Male flowers: perianth 5-parted; segments broadly ovate; stamens 5; filaments flattened, basally united; anthers broadly ovoid to shortly cylindric, ca. 0.4 mm. Fruiting bracts connate near base, triangular, rhombic, or 3-lobed, 1-4(-4.5) cm, basal central part thickened, woody, both sides with numerous tuberculate appendages, margins herbaceous, narrower and subentire, or broader and triangular-denticulate; pedicel 1-3(-5) cm. Utricle broadly ovoid or globose, compressed; pericarp white, membranous, adnate to seed. Seed vertical, red-brown or yellow-brown, 2-3 mm in diam. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep.

Atriplex centralasiatica is closely related to A. sibirica. Grubov (Rast. Tsentral. Azii 2: 33. 1966) proposed varietal rank for the former under the latter; however, Sukhorukov (Taxon. Chorol. Sp. Gen. Atriplex Russia Adjac. Countries, 2003) confirmed the specific status of A. centralasiatica.

Gobi desert, salt deserts, wastelands, beaches, sometimes in fields, field margins. Gansu, Hebei, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shanxi, Xinjiang, Xizang [Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia (Siberia); C Asia].