190 VITACEAE 



broad and rounded. The leaf base Is deeply and narrowly or 

 broadly V-shaped, and the basal lobes approach each other 

 closely or overlap. The upper leaf surface is covered, when 

 the leaf emerges, with whitish, cobwebby pubescence, which 

 soon disappears, leaving the surface smooth, dull, and dark 

 green. The under surface is at first covered with white woolly 

 pubescence, but this disappears entirely at maturity, leaving 

 a short, abundant, gray pubescence at least on the veins. The 

 petioles are one-third to two-thirds as long as the blade and 

 are densely covered w^ith pubescence similar to that of the 

 branchlets. 



The bro^d, loose inflorescence is 4 to 8 inches long and 

 stands on a peduncle ^ to 2 inches long. The flowers open 

 from the middle of June through the early part of July, and 

 the berries, which mature in clusters 2 to 6 inches long in 

 September and October, are slightly over l4 inch in diameter, 

 black, and as a rule without bloom, but sometimes somewhat 

 frosty-powdered. Each contains 1 to 3 small seeds. 



Distribution. — The Sweet Winter Grape ranges, in woods 

 and thickets, from southern Ohio to Nebraska and south to 

 Louisiana and Texas. In Illinois, it ranges throughout the 

 southern third of the state, where it is a very common grape, 

 and has been reported as far north as Champaign, Woodford 

 and Henderson counties. 



VITIS VULPINA Linnaeus 

 Frost Grape 



The Frost Grape, fig. 47, is a high-climbing vine wnth charac- 

 teristically heart-shaped, large, smooth leaves that are entire 

 or inconspicuously lobed. The branchlets are more or less 

 pubescent up to flowering time but smooth except on the nodes 

 by the time the fruit is mature. The leaf blades are cordate- 

 ovate, just about as wide as long, commonly Syi to 6 inches 

 long, acute or shortly acuminate at the apex, and mostly 

 V-shaped at the cordate base. The leaf margin is more or less 

 ciliate and mostly without lobes but sometimes has 2 short, 

 lateral lobes which are acute and less than li inch long. The 

 teeth are irregular, tipped with a very distinct point, and rarely 

 acute. The upper leaf surface is smooth, as is also the lower 

 surface, except that all of the larger veins and sometimes the 



