664 VITIS 



lacking in the vines, but is compensated for by the greater luxuriance of 

 growth, nobler foliage, and above all by the colour beauty in autumn 

 many of them possess. No species is native to the British Isles, or, 

 excepting the doubtful V. vinifera, is wild in Europe. It is mainly to 

 China, Japan, and to E. and Central N. America that we owe that 

 wealth of species from which cultivators may now make their choice. 

 As defined by Bentham and Hooker, Vitis is a very large genus of 

 perhaps four hundred species. Owing to the inconvenience that would 

 be involved by changing the names, I have not departed from their 

 estimate of the genus ; but there is a general disposition among botanists 

 nowadays to split up Vitis into several genera, thus following the 

 admirable monograph of the late Mr Planchon, published in 1887. 

 Below, an arrangement of the species here dealt with is given, in which 

 each one is placed under the genus as defined by Planchon, so that 

 anyone preferring to adopt the more recent nomenclature may do so. 

 After all, it is a matter of opinion. 



With the exception of a single species, V. (or Cissus) striata, all the 

 vines here described are deciduous and, with the exception of another, 

 V. rupestris, they are all climbers. Leaves alternate, with frequently a 

 tendril or an inflorescence opposite to each on the stem. Flowers small, 

 greenish, and of no beauty, but occasionally fragrant ; they are sometimes 

 perfect, but others are unisexual, and not infrequently the sexes are 

 segregated on different plants. Fruit a black, blue, fed, or yellow berry, 

 with or without bloom ; seeds one to four, embedded in juicy pulp. 



The ornamental vines are of very easy cultivation, provided the climate, 

 is warm enough for them. They like a good loamy soil and plenty of 

 root room, although V. heterophylla, which is grown for the beauty of 

 its fruit, is more fertile with a restricted root run. The most inconvenient 

 thing in their cultivation is the provision of suitable support. Best of 

 all, perhaps, is a pergola on which the shoots can be trained and pruned 

 back annually as much as is necessary. They can also be trained up 

 posts, when, if the shoots are allowed to hang loosely, they are very 

 elegant. Whole trees or large shrubs may be given up to them, over 

 which they can ramble at will, and this, approaching nature as it does, 

 shows the more vigorous ones at their best. The splendid form of 

 V. Coignetiae in Mr Waterer's nursery at Knap Hill is growing in this 

 way. The clinging sorts like inconstans, quinquefolia, and hima- 

 layana are useful for walls, tree trunks, or any surface in need of a 

 summer covering. Many species colour best in autumn when grown 

 on walls. 



Some species, like Coignetiae, are difficult to increase except by seeds 

 and layers, but most of the true vines can be propagated by cuttings, or 

 preferably by "eyes." An "eye" consists of a single bud of the previous 

 summer's shoot, with about half an inch of wood at each side, cut slanting 

 fashion, so that the cut surfaces almost meet beneath the bud. These 

 are made in early spring, each one placed on the surface of a small pot 

 of sandy soil, the bud only uncovered, then put in gentle bottom heat. 

 Cuttings are made one or two joints long, at the time the leaves are 

 falling in autumn, and put under a handlight or in a cool frame. The 



