478 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 
Spec.Char.,§c. Leaves 139 
lobed, toothed, si- 
nuated, or serrated, 
naked or downy. 
Dec. Prodrom., i. 
p- 633.) A deci- 
duous climber, in 
cultivation from 
the remotest period 
of history, in the 
warmest parts of 
the temperate zones 
of the Old World, 
and of which there 
are innumerable va- 
rieties. 
Geography and History. The grape vine is generally considered to be a 
native of Persia; and Dr. Sickler, in the first volume of his Geschichte der Obst- 
cultur, has given an interesting account of its migration to Egypt, Greece, and 
Sicily. From Sicily, which is generally considered to be one of the oldest 
seats of civilisation in the western hemisphere, the vine is said to have 
found its way into Italy, Spain, and France. It is supposed to have been 
cultivated in the latter country in the time of Antoninus, and to haye been 
introduced into Britain by the Romans, but during what reign is uncertain. 
There were vineyards, however, in England, according to the venerable Bede, 
in the year, A.D. 280. The vine has been for ages in a wild state, in the 
woods and hedges of Provence, Languedoc, and Guienne, in France, where 
it differs from the cultivated plant, in having smaller and more cottony leaves, 
and very small fruit, rather austere than sweet. These wild vines, which 
were called by the ancients labrusca, are still known, in the south of France, 
by the names of lambrusco, and lambresquiero. (N..Du Ham.) The history 
of the vine as a fruit shrub, and all that relates to its varieties and their pro- 
pagation and culture, will be found given at length in our Enclyclopedia 
of Gardening ; and we shall here only notice those varieties which we think 
deserving of introduction, as ornamental and fragrant-flowered standard 
climbers, for training against a prop in the free ground, in a British arbore- 
tum; or to be trained against a wall, in the arboretums of colder countries. 
Plants, in the European nurseries, are procurable at 1s. or 1 franc each; and 
at New York, for 374 cents each. 
BV. v. 2 foliis incdnis. The hoary-leaved Grape Vine. Miller’s Grape, 
or Miller’s black Cluster Grape.— Leaves almost entire, small, 
woolly, and whitish. Fruit round, small, in compact bunches, black. 
This variety is selected on account of the whiteness of its leaves. 
RV. v. 3 foliis rubescéntibus. _The rubescent-leaved Grape Vine, The 
Claret Grape; Tenturier, Fr. (NV. Du 140 
Ham., var. 75., not Clairette Du Ham., 
var. 12.)— The leaves are larger than 
those of the preceding variety, and more ‘ 
lobed and notched: in the autumn, be- 
fore they die off, they change to a deep 
claret colour, in which state they are 
highly ornamental. 
& V. v. 4 apiifolia Hort. The Parsley-leaved 
Grape Vine, Crotal, Fr. (fig. 140.) — 
The leaves are beautifully laciniated, 
middle-sized, and the fruit black. This ~ 
variety is by some considered as a species, 
and, as such, is known as V. Jacinidsa L. It forms a very handsome 
climbing shrub, which has been in cultivation for its fruit since 1648. 
SS 
