478 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



139 



Spec.Char.ySfc. Leaves 

 lobed, toothed, si- 

 nuated, or serrated, 

 naked or downy. 

 (^Dec. Prodrovi., 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 have 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, 

 bv the names of lanibrusco, and lambresquiero. {X. Du Hnm.) 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 Enc/yclopcedia 

 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 1*. or 1 franc each ; and 

 at New York, for 31\ cents each. 



A V. V. 2foHis incchiis. 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. 

 ^ V. v. 3 joliis rubescentibtis. The rubescent-leaved Grape Vi7ie. The 

 Claret Grape; Tenturier, Fr. {X. Du 

 Ham,, var. 75., not Clairette Dit 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 wWch state they are 

 highly ornamental. 

 1 V. i;. 4 apiifdlia Hort. The Parsley-leaved 

 Grape Vine. Crotal, Fr. {Jig. 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. laciniosa L. It forms a very handsome 

 climbing shrub, which has been in cultivation for its fruit since 1648. 



