Vitis labnisca, 
THE AMERICAN WILD VINE. 
Synonymes. 
Vitis labrusca, 
Vigne cotonneuse, Vigne sauvage de 
l'Amerique, 
Filziger Weinstock, Baumartige Rebe, 
Vite lambrusca, Uva labrusca, 
Wild Vine, Grape-vine, Fox Grape, 
Shominawtig, 
' Linnjetjs, Species Plantarum. 
Michaux, Flora Boreali- Americana. 
De Candolle, Prodromus. 
Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 
Torrey and Gray, Flora of North America. 
France. 
Germany. 
Italy. 
Britain and Anglo- America. 
Ojibway Indians. 
Derivations. The specific name labrusca, according to Loudon, is derived from the Hebrew busca, a grape, and was applied 
to this species by Linnaeus, from a supposed resemblance which it bore to the wild vine of Europe; hence the Italian names. 
The French and German appellations have reference to the down on the under side of the leaves. It is called Fox Grape, (or 
rather Northern Fox Grape, in contradistinction to the Fox Grape of the southern states, or the Vitis vulpina of Linnaus,) 
because the whole plant has sometimes a disagreeable, foxy smell. The Indian name is derived from shomin, a grape, and 
awtig, a tree. 
Engravings. Plumier, Description des Plantes de l'Amerique, t. 259, figure 1 ; Hoffy, Orchardist's Companion, ii., pi. 
Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, i., figure 141 ; and the figure below. 
Specific Characters. Sexes dioecious or polygamous. Leaves heart-shaped, rather 3-lobed, acutely 
toothed, downy beneath, with the peduncles tomentose and rather rusty. De Candolle, Prodromus. 
Description. 
"The vine too, her curling tendrils shoots, 
Hangs out her clusters glowing to the south, 
And scarcely wishes for a warmer sky." 
II SSS^ flHE Vitis labrusca is a tendriled climber, 
Sa SH Is growing to about the same height as 
5 U M> the wine-bearing vine of Europe. The 
g|<^*Mi stem is very long, sometimes running 
to the top of the highest trees, and the branches 
are clothed with a brownish pubescence. The 
leaves are much larger than those of the Euro- 
pean species, being usually from four to six inches 
in diameter, distinctly three-lobed in some varie- 
ties, short, mucronate, and densely covered on 
their under sides with a whitish, or rusty down, 
particularly of the latter colour on the veins. 
The flowers, which appear in June, are of a yel- 
lowish-green, and are borne on somewhat com- 
pound racemes, with short, umbelliferous branches. The berries, which usually 
arrive at maturity in October, are half an inch or more in diameter, globose or 
oblong, and are generally of a dark purple, when ripe, and of a pleasant flavour, 
particularly when cultivated ; but in some varieties, they are of an amber-col- 
our, or greenish-white, of a strong, musky taste in a wild state, and are filled 
with a tough pulp. A peculiarity exists with regard to several varieties of this 
species, of producing a second crop of fruit on the shoots of the same year ; but 
it seldom arrives at maturity except in a warm season, with late autumnal frosts. 
Varieties. Several attempts have been made to classify the varieties of this 
species, but not with much success. In most cases, the form and colour of the 
