VITACE^,. (vrXE FAMILY.) 113 



embryo at the base of the hard albumen, whicli is rrpooved on one side. 

 — StipuU'S deciduous. Leaves alternate, j)alniatily viined or compound ; 

 tendrils and ilower-elusters oj)posite the leaves. Flowers small, greenish, 

 commonly polygamous. (Young shoots, foliage, etc., acid.) 

 • Ovary surrounded by a nectariferous or f,'landuliferou.s disk ; plants climbing by the coiling 

 of naked-tipped tendrils. 



1. Vitis. Corolla caducous without expanding. Hypogynous glands 5, alteniato with the 



stamens. Fruit i>ulpy Leaves simple. 



2. Cissus. Corolla expanding. Disk cupular. Berry with scanty pulp, inedible. Leaves 



simple or pinnately comjiound. 

 » • No distinct hypogynous disk ; plants climbing by the adhesion of the diluted tips of the 

 tendril-branches. 



3. Axnpelopsis. CortiUa expanding. Leaves digitate. 



1. VITIS, Touru. Grape. 



Flowers polygamo-dioecious (some plants with perfect flowers, others stam- 



inate with at most a rudimentary ovary), .5-merous. Calyx very short, usually 



■with a nearly entire border or none at all. Petals separating only at base and 



falling off without expanding. Hypogynous disk of 5 nectariferous glands 



alternate with the stamens. Berry pulpy. Seeds pyriform, with beak-like 



base. — Plants climbing by the coiling of uaked-tipped tendrils. Flowers in a 



compound thyrse, very fragrant; pedicels mostly umbellate-clustered. Leaves 



simple, rounded and heart-shaped. (The classical Latin name.) 



§L VITIS proper. Bark loose and shreddy ; tendrils forked ; nodes solid. 



-»- A tendril {or inflorescence) opposite each leaf. 



1. V. Labriisca, L. (Northern Fox-Gkape.) Branchlets and young 

 leaves very woolly ; leaves large, entire or deeply lobed, slightly dentate, con- 

 tinuing rusty-woolly beneath : fertile panicles compact ; berries large. — Moist 

 thickets, N. Eng. to the Alleghany Mountains, and south to S. Car. June. 

 Fruit ripe in Sept. or Oct., dark purple or amber-color, with a tough musky 

 pulp. Improved by cultivation, it has given rise to the Isabella, Catawba, 

 Concord and other varieties. 



-I- -t- Tendrils intermittent {none opposite each third leaf). 

 •*-*■ Leaves pubescent and JJoccose, especialli/ beneath and ivhcn young. 



2. V. aestivalis, Michx. (Summer Grape.) Branchlets terete ; leaves 

 large, entire or mure or less deeply and obtusely 3-5-lubcd, with short broad 

 teeth, very woolly and mostly red or rusty when young ; berries middle-sized, 

 black with a bloom, in compact bunches. — Thickets ; common. May, June. 

 Berries pleasant, ripe in Sept. — V. bicolor, LeConte, has its leaves smoothish 

 when old and pale or glaucous beneath j common north and westwanl. 



3. v. cinferea, Engelm. (I)owny Grapk.) Branchlets angular; pu- 

 bescence whitish or grayish, persistent j leaves entire or slightly 3-lobed; 

 inflorescence large and loose; berries small, black without bloom. — Central 

 111. to Kan. and Tex. 



■»-*. -^Leaves glabrous and mostly shining, or short-hairy especially on the ribs 

 beneath, inciscly lobed or undivided 



4. V. COrdif61ia, Michx. (Frost or Chicken Grape.) Leaves 3 -4' 

 wide, not lobed or slightly 3 lobed, cordate with a deep acute sinus, acuminate, 



