^ ; . . / : i .THE GRAPE CULTURIST. 



This statement, in regard to 



"Tou'f* Species ); 'Hly* fielding promising cultivated varie- 

 ties, must rest upon individual opinions as to the origin 

 or descent of some of the recently produced varieties, 

 but as it is of no great importance, we may leave it for 

 future investigators to determine. 



In giving a synopsis of the genera and classification 

 of the grapes of the United States, I shall avail myself 

 of a monograph prepared for the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, by T. V. Munson, who has gath- 

 ered together a mass of material heretofore scattered 

 through the works of various botanists, and arranged it 

 in a convenient order for study. This grouping of the 

 species, or varieties, is probably as near correct as the 

 present state of botanical investigation will permit, but 

 I shall only give an epitome of his monograph, using 

 such parts as appear to be of the most value and practi- 

 cal importance to the vineyardist. 



Genus VITIS. (Tournefort, Linnaeus in part) Grape. 



Calyx very short, or small ; the border often obso- 

 lete, and the tube filled with the fleshy disk, which bears 

 four or five thick caducous petals (Fig. 1 A greatly 

 enlarged), cohering at the top, while they sepa- 

 rate at the base, the corolla usually falling off 

 without expanding ; five thick glands, or lobes, 

 of the disk, alternating with the stamens be- 

 tween them and the base of the ovary ; flowers 

 FIG. i. in a compound thyrsus, dioecious-polygamous in 

 all the American species, mostly exhaling a fragrance 

 like that of mignonette. Tendrils and flower-clusters 

 opposite the leaves, the former almost always divided, or 

 forked. Leaves simple, rounded and heart-shaped, often 

 variously lobed. 



