678 VITIS 



V. VINIFERA, Linnceus. COMMON GRAPE VINE. 



A deciduous climber, growing 50 ft. or more in length if given support; 

 young shoots sometimes smooth, sometimes cobwebby. Leaves usually 

 3 to 6 ins. wide and long; three- or five-lobed, coarsely toothed. When 

 deeply lobed the sinus between the lobes is rounded and almost or quite 

 closed by the overlapping of the upper parts of the lobes. Upper surface 

 smooth, or downy on the veins; lower one always more or less downy 

 (sometimes felted), especially on the veins; stalk more than half as long as 

 the blade. Berries oval, black with a blue bloom. 



The grape vine has been cultivated in all the warm temperate parts of 

 Europe, and in parts of Asia back into the unrecorded past, and its real 

 native country is now a matter of conjecture. But the general opinion is 

 that it originated in Asia Minor and the Caucasian region. It is perfectly 

 hardy in most parts of Britain, and has, in past times, been cultivated for 

 the production of wine. Of present-day vineyards in Britain the most noted 

 is that of the Marquis of Bute near Cardiff. On sunny walls very palatable 

 grapes can be grown in this country, especially in hot summers; but on the 

 whole it has to be said that the results generally offer but little inducement 

 to take up put-door cultivation of grapes, especially now that glasshouses 

 can be erected so cheaply and give such infinitely better results. Still, for 

 several centuries after the Norman Conquest, vineyards were common 

 enough in the south and west of England. Winchester, or Winton, is said 

 to take its name from its excellent vintage. It is not within the province of 

 this work to deal with the numerous varieties of grape vine that are grown 

 for their fruit, but there are three varieties that require mention for their 

 distinct or ornamental qualities as hardy climbers. 



Var. APIIFOLIA, London (V. laciniosa, Linnceus). The Cut-leaved or 

 Parsley Vine. The striking and handsomely cut leaves of this variety 

 consist of three to five main divisions, sometimes stalked. These are again 

 variously cut into deep narrow lobes, pointed or bluntish. It makes a very 

 effective climber, although the leaves are certainly not subdivided enough to 

 suggest parsley. Cultivated in Britain since the middle of the seventeenth 

 century. 



Var. INCANA. The Miller Grape. Leaves three-lobed or unlobed, 

 smaller than in the type, the upper surface as well as the lower one 

 covered with a grey, cobweb-like down, giving them, when young especially, 

 a whitish appearance as if dusted with flour. Its aspect is curious and 

 interesting rather than attractive. 



Var. PURPUREA. Teinturier Grape. Leaves at first of a beautiful claret 

 red, deepening later in the season to lurid purple. One of the richest hued 

 of purple shrubs. 



A variety of no particular merit as an ornament, but of interest, is var. 

 CORINTHIACA, the vine that produces the currants of the grocers' shops. 

 It has smaller, -more rounded leaves than the type, and tiny, black, very 

 often seedless fruits. The name "currant" is a corruption of "Corinth," 

 whence most of the dried fruits of this vine are exported. 



V. VITACEA. COMMON VIRGINIA CREEPER. 



(Parthenocissus dumetorum, Rehder ; P. vitacea, Hitchcock; Psedera vitacea, Greene; 

 Cissus quinquefolia, Sims, Bot. Mag., t. 2443.) 



This is the common Virginian creeper of gardens, especially town 

 gardens, in this country, where it has long been grown under the name of 

 Vitis (or Ampelopsis) quinquefolia. It is not, however, the true plant of 



