VINE FAMILY 



thrives in all locations and is remarkably vigorous in large cities, 

 where it grows to a great height, clinging to bricks and stone 

 and mortar in positions where no other vine so exposed to the 

 power of the wind could survive. 



The close double carpet of green, the broad, wax-like, shining 

 leaves which in the fall change to scarlet and crimson, unite to 

 make this the most desirable of all our climbers. Its tendrils 

 adhere best to unpainted surfaces and it needs no support of any 

 kind. Very young plants are tender in winter, but a slight pro- 

 tection for a year or two will establish them permanently in the 

 soil, from which time their growth is rapid. 



RIVER-BANK GRAPE. FROST GRAPE 



Vitis vulpina. 

 Vitis, the ancient name of the vine. 



The River-bank is the commonest grape of the Northern States west 

 of New England; abundant along streams; frequently destroys shrubs 

 and low trees. Variable in the flavor and maturity of the fruit. 



Stem. — Vigorous, tall-climbing, with bright-green foliage; young 

 shoots normally glabrous; stipules large; tendrUs forked and coiling; 

 nodes solid. 



Leaves. — Thin, medium to large, cordate-ovate with a broad sinus at 

 base; sometimes three-lobed; deeply and irregularly cut; apex promi- 

 nently acute; generally glabrous, but veins and their angles often 

 pubescent. 



Flowers. — Small, greenish, dioecious, or polygamo-dioecious, borne in 

 compound racemes. 



Calyx. — Minute, five-lobed. 



Petals. — Five, cohering at the tips and falling without expanding. 



Stamens. — Five, alternating with nectiferous glands; stamens of 

 fertile flowers curved; of sterile flowers erect. 



Ovary. — Globular, two-celled; style short. 



Berries. — Small, less than half an inch in diameter; purple-black with 

 a heavy blue bloom, sour, generally ripening late; seeds rather small 

 and distinctly pyriform. 



The River-bank Grape is well knovra to all who live in the Mid- 

 dle West, for it festoons the thickets on the river banks, where 



aSs 



