Twenty-one species in the Chenopodiaceae were analyzed for sterol composition. In ten of eleven species of Chenopodium, the major desmethylsterols were Δ7-sterols accompanied by lower proportions of Δ5-sterols. In C. fremontii this pattern was reversed. The sterol profiles of five species of Atriplex were characterized by the coexistence of Δ7- and Δ5-sterols in ratios of 0.3∶1 to 0.4∶1. Male Atriplex plants contained higher proportions of Δ5-sterols than female Atriplex plants. One Ceratoides and two Salicornia species contained Δ5-sterols as their predominant sterols.