The species within this genus inhabit different regions of the Gran Chaco ecoregion including parts of northern Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay.

[1] In Brazil it can be found as a component of the Caatinga in the northwestern region.

[2] The name is in recognition of the hardness of the wood from the Spanish quiebra-hacha ("axe-breaker").

It also distinguishes the species from the "white quebracho" trees of the unrelated genus Aspidosperma.

[3] Schinopsis is the exclusive food plant of the moth Coleophora haywardi.