crosswise, at first white, becoming darker green than the wood, similar to V. Munsoniana, 

 insensibly meeting the diaphragm. All this is very characteristic and clearly distinctive from 

 V. candicans, with which some botanists have confused it. 



Leaves: Stipules minute, rusty; petiole 1/2 the length of blade, cylindrical, with no visible 

 groove, densely covered with a close felt-like tomentum, whitish when young, brownish with 

 age, similar to underface of blade and young wood though more rusty on petiole, wood and ribs 

 than between the ribs; blade small, width ly^' to 2]/^', rarely 4' wide, length IJ^' to 2', rarely 

 334'; shape broadly cordate, or nearly reniform, mostly not lobed, generally plane, not convexing 

 upward so much as in V. candicans; basal sinus very broad, nearly truncate to broad horse-shoe 

 shaped, acute at insertion of petiole; rarely three lobed with rounded sinuses, summit acute, 

 but not acuminate; margin with shallow, broad scalloped, obtuse, rarely acute teeth; venation, 

 from the generally 6, sometimes 7 pairs of not prominent, opposite or nearly opposite ribs, which 

 always terminate in a tooth, obscure; upper face at first felt-like, then hairy, fioccose and finally 

 smooth, dark shining green, not rugose; under face yellowish-white or rusty or pure white, when 

 very young, felty tomentum, nearly obscuring the ribs and quite so their subdivisions; texture 

 of blade thick, leathery. Leaves of ground shoots from old roots 3 to 5 lobed. 



Cluster: Fertile, — small l}4'to4:', simple or with occasionally one short branch or shoulder; 

 peduncle 1}4' to 2}4' long; rachis thicker than peduncle, both covered with whitish wool; pedi- 

 cels short, about 1/16' long, enlarging upward, green, warty; receptacle broad, holding well to 

 the red core and white pulp of ripe fruit, as in V. candicans, drawing the core out of berry when 

 it is plucked off. This characteristic is peculiar to these two species. 



Flowers: Fertile, — ^bud small green, ovary narrowly ovate, green, lighter toward apex; 

 stigma disc-shaped or hemispherical, lobed, yellow, nearly sessile; sterile, — ^stamens 5 to 7, same 

 as in fertile, erect, 1/8' long, smooth, often purple. 



Berries few to 16, medium, 1/3' to 3/4' in diameter, usually dark red or purple, rarely lighter 

 colored, and seldom black; skin thin with red juice around white tough. pulp which clings to 

 pedicel; juicy, flavor agreeable, skin not pungent. The fruit clearly reveals its close kinship to 

 V. candicans, yet it is a good species, easily distinguished from Candicans. 



Seeds: 2 to 5, small to medium, 1/5' long by 1/6' broad, obcordate, having a notch in top, 

 color of Rio Coffee, when fresh; beak medium size, short, well defined brownish-orange color, 

 paler than body of seed, tip darker, raphe small, becoming obscure in the groove as it passes 

 over top of seed; chalaza distinct in shallow basin, prominent convex narrowly ovate or wedge- 

 shaped, in center of back of seed, gradually passing into raphe; a slight groove extends from 

 basin to beak; ventral depressions curved, distinct, of lighter color than body of seed, short and 

 diverging from beak, color in fresh seeds yellow. 



Plantlet: Cotyledons small, ovate, acute, green. 



Viticultural Observations and Remarks 



Germination medium to late, little earlier than V. candicans, nearly with V. Simpsoni, feeble; 

 foliation at Manatee, Florida, about February 20. First species after V. Munsoniana there to 

 leaf out, the other species being V. Simpsoni, V. rotundifolia, V. cordifolia; inflorescence at 

 same place, about April 25th to May 1st; fruit ripens there about July 15th. At Denison, 

 Texas, it foliates, flowers and ripens late, about with V. Lincecumii or a little earlier than 

 V. cestivalis. Cuttings grow with the greatest difficulty. 



Young plant slender, feeble, but becomes vigorous with age, stronger than V. aestivalis, 

 not so strong as V. candicans, but of similar habit ; endures drouth and heat well but very sensi- 

 tive to cold, about the same as V. vinifera, not enduring the harder winters at Denison, Texas, 

 without protection; resistant to Phylloxera. 



It appears to me that this species offers good material upon which to base a valuable strain 

 of table and wine grapes for the Gulf regions where few northern varieties succeed. A variety 



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