Sandalwoods have an unfortunate place in Hawaiian history, being greatly depleted during the intense sandalwood trade with China in the early 19th Century. When the harvestable sandalwoods were consumed by the trade, during which the dry forests that hosted them were often burned, there was a brief and fortunately unsuccessful attempt to use naio as a substitute. Into the early 20th Century there was a common misconception that the sandalwoods had become extinct, but they survived in small numbers. Today some varieties are threatened by alien mammals, particularly from rats eating the fruits.

Hawai'i Island hosts s. paniculatum and s. ellipticum.