NAT. ORDER. 
Vitace<s. 
VITIS VINIFERA. COMMON GRAPE VINE. 
Class V. Pentandria. Order I. Monogynia. 
Gen. Char. Petals cohering at the apex, withering. Berry five- 
seeded, superior. 
Spe. Char. Leaves broad-cordate, angularly sub-three-lobed, cin- 
ereous-tomentose beneath. Racemes small. Berries large. 
The vine sends off numerous long, slender, climbing branches, 
and is covered with rough, dark-brown bark ; the leaves are 
roundish, deeply serrated, commonly divided into three lobes, and 
stand alternately upon long footstalks ; the jlowers are small, and 
produced in spikes ; the calyx is divided into five small narrow seg- 
ments ; the petals are fine, small, oblong, whitish, withered, adherent 
at their apicies, and soon fall off; the five jilaments are tapering, 
and furnished with simple anthers ; the germen is egg-shaped, 
without any style, but supplied with a cylindrical stigma ; the fruit 
is a large round berry, of one cell, and contains five hard seeds, 
of an irregular form. The flowers appear in June and July. 
The vine is a native of most of the temperate parts of the four 
quarters of the globe, and is successfully cultivated between the 
thirtieth and fifty-first degree of latitude. Through the effects of 
culture, and a difference of soil and climate, numerous varieties of 
grapes are produced, differing widely in shape, color, and taste, and 
affording wines which are known to be extremely various. Vine 
leaves, caXi&A pampini, and the tendrils, or capreoH, have an astrin- 
gent taste, and were formerly used in diarrhoeas, hemorrhages, and 
other disorders, requiring refrigera- 1 and styptic medicines. The 
Vol. ii.— 49 
