Grewioideae is a subfamily of the family Malvaceae and was first described by Hochreutiner. The group is named after its type genus, Grewia, which is named for the English scientist Nehemiah Grew (1641–1712). It contains a number of genera that were previously placed in the defunct family Tiliaceae.
Within the Malvaceae, this subfamily has its inflorescences opposite the leaves, the corollas are usually clawed, and there is a nectar-bearing hair carpet at the base of the petals and there are numerous dithecal stamens. The fruit is fleshy or capsular with spines, and the seeds are winged. The group is thought to have originated about 42 (± 15) million years ago.
Ulrike Brunken & Alexandra Muellner divide the Grewioideae into two clades, the Grewia clade, Grewieae Endl. and the Apeiba clade, Apeibeae Benth., on the basis of morphological and molecular evidence.
The subfamily includes the following genera - accepted by Bayer & Kubitzki (2003)