214 HOW TO KNOW WILD FRUITS 



FROST OR CHICKEN GRAPE 



Vitis cordifolia Grape Family 



Fruit. The small round berries are numer- 

 ous in the loose-branched cluster. They are 

 black with a slight bloom, have a thick skin, 

 scant pulp, and one or two medium-sized 

 seeds. They are sour, but improve in flavor 

 after being frosted. October, November. 



Leaves. The leaves are usually undivided, 

 but sometimes are suggestive of three lobes 

 or angles. They are coarsely toothed with 

 sharp-pointed teeth. The apex is generally 

 long and pointed, and the base is heart- 

 shaped. The upper leaf surface is shiny and 

 the lower one green and usually smooth, with 

 occasionally fine hairs along the veins. 



Flowers. The flower cluster is long, branched, 

 and many-flowered. 



This is the true Frost Grape, and is a vine 

 of luxuriant growth, the trunk sometimes be- 

 coming a foot or two in diameter. It grows 

 in moist thickets and along streams from New 

 England to central Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, 

 and southward. 



