VITACEjE. 



221 



nitely. Thus those inhabiting the United States differ less from each other 

 than do many of the cultivated varieties of the V. vinifera, and they can 

 hardly be distinguished from some of these, except that they are more uni- 

 formly polygamous. No less than 1400 varieties are said to be cultivated in 

 the Luxembourg gardens at Paris ; and Rafinesque has described 41 species 

 of those peculiar to North America, and 60 of foreign origin, besides nume- 

 rous varieties, and he states that Mr. Adlum, who paid much attention to the 

 subject, stated that he had distinguished 200 varieties in a wild state in the 

 United States. 



V. vinifera, Linn. — Leaves lobed, sinuated, toothed, naked, or smooth. 



Linn., Sp. PI. 293 ; Woodville, 195 ; Stephenson and Churchi 

 Bat. iii. 140 ; Rafinesque, Med. Fl. ii. 

 Common Name. — Grape Vine. 

 Foreign Name. — Vite, It. 



Description. — It is so variable a shrub, 

 that no description will apply to all the Fig. 113. 



kinds. The leaves are more or less lobed, 

 smooth, pubescent, or tomentose ; are flat, 

 crisped, or even plaited, either of a pale or 

 of a dark green colour. The branches may 

 be prostrate or climbing or erect, and tender 

 or hard. The racemes are loose or com- 

 pact, ovate or cylindrical. The fruit is 

 white or pale, yellow, red, or purple ; glo- 

 bose, ovate, or oblong in form ; and sweet, 

 musky, or austere in taste. The seeds are 

 also variable in number, and sometimes by 

 abortion are wholly wanting. 



Med. 



The early history of the Vine is in- 

 volved in some obscurity, for the oldest 

 of the profane writers that mention it, 

 ascribe to it a fabulous origin. Its cul- 

 ture of course begun in the East, and 

 we are told in Scripture, that Noah, 

 after coming out of the ark, planted a 

 vineyard, and " drunk of the wine and 

 was drunken ;" evidently showing that 

 its properties were well known anterior 

 to the deluge; though some commen- v. vinifera. 



tators are of opinion that this was the 



first time that wine was made, and that Noah was therefore ignorant of its 

 intoxicating properties. The traditions of ancient Egypt ascribe the first cul- 

 ture of the wine to Osiris, while in the Grecian mythology it is attributed to 

 Bacchus. All accounts, however, point to the East as the first place in which 

 the vine was reclaimed from its wild state, and became an object of culture. 

 Dr. Sickler, who regards this useful plant as of Persian origin, has given a 

 learned account of its migration to Egypt, Greece, and Sicily, from the latter 

 of which countries it is supposed to have extended to Italy, Spain, and France. 

 The Phocians are said to have carried it to the south of France, and the 

 Romans to have planted it on the banks of the Rhine. It has been found 

 that for the successful culture of the vine, the annual mean temperature 

 should be between 50° and' 63°, or the mean temperature may be as low as 

 43°, provided that of the summer reaches 68°. In Europe, these conditions 

 are found to exist as far north as latitude 50°, but in the United States not 



