VITACE^— GRAPE FAMILY 



FOX-GRAPE. RIVERSIDE GRAPE. 

 FROST-GRAPE 



Vitis vulpina 



Vitis, the ancient name of the vine. 



The Riverside is the commonest grape of the Northern 

 States west of New England; abundant along streams; 

 frequently destroys shrubs and low trees. Variable in 

 the shape of its leaves and in the flavor and maturity of 

 its fruit. 



Stem. — Vigorous, tall-climbing with bright green foli- 

 age; young shoots normally glabrous; stipules large; 

 tendrils forked and coiling; nodes solid. 



Leaves. — Thin, medium to large, cordate, or ovate with 

 a broad sinus at base, sometimes three-lobed, sometimes 

 deeply cut, and sometimes just coarsely serrate, apex 

 acute, generally glabrous, but veins and their angles often 

 pubescent. 



Flowers. — Small, greenish, dioecious or polygamo- 

 dioecious, borne in compound racemes; fragrant. 



Calyx. — Minute, five-lobed. 



Petals. — Five, cohering at the tips and falling without 

 expanding. 



Stamens. — Five, alternating with nectiferous glands; 

 stamens of fertile flowers curved; of sterile flowers erect. 



Pistil. — Globular, two-celled; style short. 



Fruit. — Berries, small, one-fourth to three-eighths of 

 an inch in diameter, purple-black with a heavy blue 

 bloom, sweetish, generally ripening late; seeds rather 

 small and distinctly pyriform. 

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