VI T IS, G R A P E V I N E. 263 



The stalks & the veins are a lighter green, almost white. After the first frost, the leaves on 

 vines with black, purple, & red fruit are tinged a fairly deep red; those on other 

 grapevines turn yellow or red only in places. 



Usually the number of new shoots arising from one that's been pruned 

 corresponds to the number of buds that have been left on it. If the vinestock is vigorous & 

 productive, each one of the new shoots yields one, two, & sometimes three clusters of 

 fruit emerging from the fifth, sixth, and seventh nodes, & they appear as the shoots 

 develop. So the shoots that put out their seventh leaf produce everything that one ought to 

 expect of them. The cluster consists of several small bunches or clusters of grapes 

 attached alternately on a common stalk & that have a fair number of flower buds, each 

 one with a small pedicel. 



The flower consists of 1°. a small calyx which is merely sort of a widened pedicel 

 bordered by four or five small points or ungues. 2°. from four to six small green petals. 

 While they remain closed up & sort of stuck to each other, they form a little pentagonal 

 pyramid & they conceal the flower's stamens & pistil. When they're pushed apart by the 

 force of the stamens lengthening & emerging, they remain attached only at their tips and 

 allow the stamens to come out. Finally they open fully & are arrayed like a rose. 3°. from 

 four to six quite long stamens that end in a tip. 4°. a pistil with no style and a blunt stigma 

 immediately on top of the ovary. 



The ovary becomes a berry or a fleshy grape that's very succulent and juicy. It 

 differs in shape, size, color, and flavor depending on the type & variety. It's covered with 

 a thin skin that's crisp or crunchy or firm & tough. Inside there are from one to five 

 elongated grape seeds (most often one or two - the others having failed to develop), blunt 

 at both ends, 



