They were formerly placed in the family Sterculiaceae, but this is included in the expanded Malvaceae in the APG and most subsequent systematics.

There is evidence from fossil pollen that the Trochetiopsis lineage has been on Saint Helena since the late Miocene (some 9.5 million years).

[2] Unlike in Trochetia, the Trochetiopsis flowers have only five stamens, and the sepals generally have appressed sericeous indumentum on their interior faces (although one species, T. melanoxylon, lacks this last character).

The wood of all the species is attractively coloured and is used in island inlay work.

[3] There are three species (two living, one extinct), and one named hybrid: