JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



distinctions in their floral structure, now considered insufficient to warrant 

 their separation. The distinctions given by Loudon are : — 



Vitis Style wanting Petals 5 



Am})elopsis . Style present Petals 5 



Cissus Style present Petals 4 



Commencing with the American species, the best and most widely- 

 known, I will briefly refer to those most suitable for planting in this 

 country, and then touch on the Chinese and Japanese species, more fully 

 describing several recently introduced, and quite new to cultivation. 



The fact that many of the species are dioecious (the male and female 

 flowers being on separate plants) has not infrequently led to botanists 

 describing the different sexes of one species under separate names, and 

 some species have as many as six and seven synonyms. Light is now 

 beginning to break on this confusion, and the names given here have 

 been carefully verified and may at this date be taken as reasonably 

 correct. 



Vitis cestivalis, the 1 Summer Grape,' is found in the United States 

 from New England to Florida. The leaves, covered with a reddish down 

 when young, which is lost as they become mature, measure some 6 inches 

 in diameter, and are of a deep green colour, with purple leaf-stalks. The 

 fruit, of a pleasant but rather acid flavour, is dark blue, ripening in 

 October. 



Vitis arborea, also known as Cissus bipinnata, inhabits the southern 

 United States from Florida to Georgia, and is said by Loudon, who 

 figured it in his " Encyclopaedia of Trees and Shrubs," to have been intro- 

 duced to this country in 1700. The leaves are bipinnate and resemble 

 those of Tecoma in appearance and size. It is of slow growth in Great 

 Britain. 



Vitis cordifolia, or the 1 Chicken Grape,' is also a United States 

 species, with heart-shaped leaves 3 to 6 inches in diameter, often slightly 

 three-lobed, of thin texture and smooth, on both surfaces. The berries 

 are nearly black when mature, about } inch in diameter, and of acid 

 flavour. 



Vitis ccdifornica is a strong grower, reaching the highest points of 

 the tallest trees in its forest home, the leaves in autumn assuming a deep 

 crimson hue. It inhabits Central and South California and North 

 Oregon, and is one of the best of the Californian natives for this country. 



Vitis Labrusca, the 'Fox' or 'Skunk' Grape, is a very attractive 

 North American species, said to be the parent form from which most of the 

 American cultivated Grapes originated. The leaves are roundish, heart- 

 shaped in outline, variously incised or cut into lobes, with sinuate serrate 

 margins. The upper surface is green, with the principal veins purple; 

 the petioles, under-surface, and young wood being covered with a rusty 

 woolly tomentum. This species is evidently also wild in China, and has 

 been recently raised from seed collected by Mr. Wilson. 



Vitis qumquefoHa (Amjwlopxis hcderacea), or the ' Virginian Creeper,' 

 is a well -known species, said by Loudon to have been introduced from 

 North America to this country in 1G29, and is one of the commonest 

 plants in cultivation. It is an excellent subject for towns, withstanding 



