I to-day met on the street, Mr. John D. Charlton, one of our oldest citizens, and upon inquiry, 

 found that he had a very distinct recollection, that when a very small boy, he had eaten "Blue" 

 and "Brown" grapes from our garden, and that they were celebrated for their very fine quality, 

 and for large bunches. 



I enclose the Consul's certificates, as you requested. 



Yours very truly, 



GOUGIE BOURQUIN. 

 T. V. Muxsox. ESQ. 



Series V. Cinerascentes. Planchon 

 10. VITIS BLANCOII, Munson. (See Plate XIX.) 



Synonyms: 



V. Carib(ca. Harvard Herbarium. Dr. E. Palmer. 1SSC 



Vine: Vigorous, climbing very high, foliage presenting a pale grayish-green aspect, in dense 

 canopy on small trees. 



Roots : Wiry, penetrating very deeply. 



Wood: Growing tips extending rapidly beyond the slowly enlarging leaves, densely whitish, 

 or pale rusty woolly, which wool persists during the first year; at first, wood is slightly angled, 

 but becomes smooth cylindrical with maturity, pale dull green at first, very dark, reddish-brown 

 at maturity; outer bark sheds the second year slowly in narrow fibrous plates, leaving the true 

 bark rough pale brown, which with age becomes finely divided lengthwise, as in V. cinerca, but 

 of a darker color; wood rather soft, tough and uncommonly flexible; internodes 3' to 6' or more 

 long in well grown canes, pith light brown, somewhat greater in diameter than the thickness of 

 mature annual wood from pith outward, expanding and abruptly terminating above, but gradu- 

 ally below the diaphragm, which is about 1/16' thick, cross-section of wood very porous; nodes, 

 little enlarged, or bent, stipular ridge not very prominent, and extending about half way around 

 to base of tendril, then curving downward ; tendrils 2' to 5' to fork, mostly bifid, whitish tomen lose, 

 very strong; buds small, at first subglobose. becoming at full maturity slightly triangular, but 

 remaining blunt at apex, covered with dark brown scales, and rusty woolly at summit, in 

 unfolding whitish or pale pink, tip closed. 



Leaves: Stipules very small, rusty woolly; petiole 1' to 2' long, cylindrical, with distinct 

 narrow groove along upper side, of uniform thickness the entire length, densely whitish woolly; 

 blade long-cordate, entire, when fully grown 3' to 4' wide, with mid-rib 4' to 5' long; basal sinus 

 D or ^~ shaped (which is quite different from other species of this series, except sometimes the 

 shape is found in V. Boiaiulieri; margin rarely slightly lobed or shouldered and finely toothed 

 nith sharp, mostly short erect teeth with distinct mucron; apex generally -very long taper-pointed; 

 venation from the mostly S pairs of generally alternate ribs very depressed, and obscured a! 

 by thin cottony wool, and below by den^e leln'tisli, or ash-colored felt; upper face at full maturity 

 bearing Jlocculcnt cotton along the ribs, giving foliage a. grayish aspect, elsewhere being a dark dull 

 green with little or no wrinkling. 



Cluster: Fertile. of medium size, 3' to .V long; simple, with a shoulder or but little compounded; 

 pedicels 2/16' to 3/16' long, slender, scatteringly warty, slightly enlarged at apex; staminate; 

 cluster somewhat larger. 



Flowers: Very small and sit nder in all its parts. 



Berries: Small 1/4' to 1/3' in diameter, spherical, black, with thin bloom alien ripe-; skin 

 thin, tough, not pungent, pulp juicy, pure sweet, vinous. 



Seeds: 1 to 3, very small, as broad, or broader than long, 1/8' long, globular when one in a 

 berry, hemispherical when two; pale to dark chocolate colored; beak very short and broad, of 

 darker color than body of seed; raphe very slender and obscure from beak to top of seed, where 

 it becomes distinct in the notch in top, and rapidly expands into the nearly circular prominent 



60 



