214 HOW TO KNOW WILD FRUITS 



FROST OR CHICKEN CxRAPE 



Vitis cordifolia Grape Family 



Fruit. — The small roimd 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. 



Floivers. — The flow^er 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. 



