TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 79 



THE DISTRIBUTIOX OF THE CiEXUS VITI8 IN KANSAS. 



BY A. S. HITCHCOCK, STATE AGKICULTUKAL COLLEGE, MANHATTAN. 



So far as I have been able to ascertain, the genus Vitis is represented in Kansas 

 by five species, excluding the widely-distributed Vitis indivisa, which is placed by 

 American botanists under Cissus ampelopsis. 



LinuKus described but two species of Vitis from North America — V. labrusca and 

 V. vulpina — neither of which I have seen in Kansas. 



Three of our species were first described by Michaux in his Flora Boreali Ameri- 

 cana, vol. II, pp.230 and 231 (1803). 



V. cestivalis Mx. Fl. — Of this Michaux says, in his original description, translat- 

 ing from the Latin: "Leaves widely cordate, 3-5 lobed, sparsely tomentose beneath, 

 hairs red, sinus obtusely rounded, fertile racemes, oblong, fruit small. Commonly 

 called summer grape. Habitat in woods from Virginia to Carolina." 



This is a high climber, with large, frequently deeply-lobed, leaves, which, with 

 age, tend to become glaucous beneath, and, in the variety bicolor, are conspicuously 

 so. The canes are smooth and more or less glaucous. The fruit is larger than that 

 of any other species we have, and is very pleasantly flavored. Some of the berries 

 gathered at Baxter Springs, Cherokee county, would make a very fair table fruit, 

 and it seems deserving of cultivation. It occurs in Johnson and Cherokee counties, 

 and probably more or less through the eastern tier of counties, from the Missouri 

 river south. In Cherokee county, the variety bicolor is abundant. 



V. cinerea Engelm. — This was first described by Doctor Engelmann as a variety 

 of V. cestivalis (Gray's Manual, ed. 5, 1868). He afterwards raised it to the rank of 

 a distinct species. It is easily distinguished from V. cestivalis, which it closely re- 

 sembles, by the branchlets being loosely woolly, the leaves being scarcely at all 

 lobed, and the pubescence ashy and not red. The fruit is small, and ripens late in 

 the fall, being still green when the fruit of V. cestivalis is ripe — the latter part of July 

 in Cherokee county. It occurs in the following counties: Atchison, Wyandotte, John- 

 son, Miami, Linn, Bourbon, Cherokee, Labette, Montgomery, Jackson, Shawnee, 

 Greenwood, Riley, and Norton, thus being quite general through eastern Kansas. 



V. cordifolia Mx. — This is described by Michaux as follows: '"Leaves cordate, 

 acuminate, subequally dentate, glabrous both sides, raceme laxly many flowered, 

 berries small, ripening late. Called by the inhabitants, ' winter grape.' Habitat from 

 Pennsylvania to Florida." 



This occurs over nearly the same range as the previous species — Doniphan, 

 Atchison, Miami, Linn, Bourbon, Cherokee, Labette, Montgomery, Greenwood, Pot- 

 tawatomie, and Riley. 



V. riparia Mx. — Michaux characterizes this species as follows: "Leaves une- 

 qually incisely dentate, shortly three-lobed, petioles, nerves and margins pubescent. 

 Called by the French inhabitants, 'sand-bank grape.' Habitat along rivers and on 

 river islands in Ohio, Mississippi, etc." 



This is the most widely-distributed grape in Kansas, occurring throughout the 

 State as far west as Barber and Decatur counties. 



This species has often been confounded with V. cordifolia, but is easily distin- 

 guished by the leaf characters brought out by Michaux. V. cordifolia has the teeth 

 nearly equal, while in V. riparia the teeth are quite unequal and the leaf is more or 

 less three lobed, the lobes being acuminate. The leaves of V. cordifolia are some- 

 times deeply lobed, but the lobes are not so acuminate and the sinuses are rounded. 



