114 THE GRAPES OF NEW YORK. 



Small, much branched shrub or sometimes, under favorable circumstances, slightly 

 climbing. Diaphragm thin but slightly thicker than Riparia; tendrils fe^v, or, if 

 present, weak, usually deciduous. Leaves rather small; young leaves frequently folded 

 on midrib; broadly cordate or reniform, wider than long, scarcely ever slightly lobed, 

 smooth, glabrous on both surfaces at maturity; petiolar sinus wide, shallow; margin 

 rather coarsely toothed, frequently a sharp abrupt point at terminal. Cluster small. 

 Berries small, usually larger than Riparia, color black or purple-black. Seeds small, 

 not notched; beak short, rather blunt; raphe slightly distinct to indistinct, usually 

 showing as a narrow groove; chalaza of medium size, pear-shaped, sometimes distinct, 

 but usually a depression only. Leafing, blossoming, and ripening early (blossoming 

 soon after Riparia). 



Rupestris seems to have been first described and named by Scheele 

 in 1848 in a contribution on the flora of Texas to the periodical Linnaea. 

 Ravenel, in 1859, states that this grape is found in Texas and is there 

 known as the Mountain grape. It was mentioned and described by Buckley, 

 Engelmann, and all of the later botanists. (See Plate.) 



This species is an inhabitant of southwestern Texas, extending east- 

 ward and northward into New Mexico, southern Missouri, Indiana and 

 Tennessee to southern Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. Its 

 favorite places are gravelly banks and bars of mountain streams or the 

 rocky beds of dry water-courses. Rupestris is usually considered drouth- 

 resistant but Munson states that it is short-lived in the upland sandy soils 

 in northern Texas, where, owing to long droughts, the land dries out deeply. 

 Here, he says, it is not so successfully resistant to drouth as Lincecumu.' 

 This species is quite variable both in type and growth. It was intro- 

 duced into France at about the same time as Riparia, and the French 

 vineyardists selected the most vigorous and healthy forms for grafting 

 stock. These pass under the various names of Rupestris Mission, Rupestris 

 du Lot, Rupestris Ganzin, Rttpestris Martin, Rupestris St. George, and 

 others. In France they are stated to have given particularly good results 

 on bare, rocky soils with hot, dry exposures. In California, Husmann^ 

 states, "It does not flourish in dry locations here, and as it suckers pro- 

 fusely and does not take the graft as readily as the two former classes 

 [Riparia and Aestivalis], it is not largely propagated." It has not been 



* Bush. Cat., 1894:22. 

 ^ Husmann, 1895:188. 



