Although the Saint Helena Redwood (Trochetiopsis erythroxylon) is now extinct in the wild, it was formerly abundant enough in the upland parts of the island of Saint Helena

Saint Helena

Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...

 for early settlers in the 17th century to use the timber to make their homes.

Saint Helena redwood is completely unrelated to the redwood tree of California and other trees called redwood

Cupressaceae

The Cupressaceae or cypress family is a conifer family with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27 to 30 genera , which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130-140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious or dioecious trees and shrubs from 1-116 m tall...

.

It is, however, in the same genus as the Saint Helena ebony (Trochetiopsis ebenus

Trochetiopsis ebenus

Saint Helena ebony is a species of flowering plant that is endemic to the island of Saint Helena in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is not related to the ebony of commerce , but is instead a member of the mallow family, Malvaceae...

) and a hybrid between them (Trochetiopsis x benjamini) is now often planted on the island.