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VITIS, 



GRAPEVINE. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



THE GRAPEVINE is a climbing shrub that grows as tall as it's allowed to, even surpassing 

 the tallest of trees. 



Its shoots are fairly thick & long, depending on the vigor of the vinestock. They're 

 covered with two layers of bark. The outer one has a firm consistency and is made up of 

 longitudinal fibers that separate easily & form sort of small rows, some of which are 

 lighter in color and others darker. This bark layer peels off easily; it detaches by itself & 

 falls off in the following year. It's a yellow wood-color, more or less darker or lighter 

 depending on the type of grapevine. It's light colored on vines with white grapes and less 

 so on those with red grapes. It's dark on vines with black or purple grapes. But these 

 shades of color aren't sufficiently pronounced to differentiate types & varieties. The 

 second layer of bark is green & adheres strongly to the wood. 



The shoots have projecting or enlarged nodes placed at fairly wide intervals. Each 

 node bears a leaf & two buds emerge below the axilla of the leaf. One of them opens & 

 forms a small shoot that normally doesn't get very far, only reaching a length of one foot 

 at most. Sometimes only the rudiments of a shoot appear. 



