Simaroubaceae are among the families whose circumscription radically changed over time, because phylogenetic analyses undertaken since 1995 demonstrated it was a polyphyletic group in its traditional delimitation. Currently, Simaroubaceae sensu stricto are a mostly pantropical, highly supported monophyletic group composed of 22 genera and approximately 120 species. Growing knowledge about members of the family has allowed several advances over the last couple of decades. The primary center of diversity for Simaroubaceae is in tropical America, and new contributions have been recently made regarding members of the family in the region, including descriptions of several new taxa. Hence, we undertook an updated overview of general information available for the group, with focus on American taxa of Simaroubaceae, and highlighting numerous data published after the 2011 monograph. Besides aiming to contribute to a better knowledge of a family with past controversial limits, we emphasize research topics in which the current scarcity of data demands further investigation.

Simaroubaceae 属于界限随时间发生根本变化的科，因为自 1995 年以来进行的系统发育分析表明，在其传统划界中，它是一个多系群。目前，严格的 Simaroubaceae sensu stricto 是一个主要是泛热带的、高度支持的单系群，由 22 个属和大约 120 个物种组成。在过去的几十年里，人们对家庭成员的了解不断增加，取得了一些进展。Simaroubaceae 的主要多样性中心位于热带美洲，最近对该地区的家庭成员做出了新的贡献，包括对几个新分类群的描述。因此，我们对该组可用的一般信息进行了更新概述，重点是美国西马科亚类群，并重点介绍了 2011 年专着之后发表的大量数据。除了旨在帮助更好地了解过去存在争议限制的家庭之外，我们还强调当前数据稀缺需要进一步调查的研究主题。