THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
373 
THE ROTUNDIFOLIA GRAPES 
F. C. Reimer, West 
The South is remarkably rich in native fruits. Native 
plums, persimmons, blackberries, dewberries, raspberries, 
huckleberries, mulberries, walnuts, hickories ,and pecans are 
widely distributed, flourish, and many of these have given us 
valuable cultivated varieties. But the South is noted 
especially for its native grapes. Twenty of the species 
native to the United States are found in the South. Further¬ 
more, all of the native species which have given us valuable 
varieties are well represented in the South. 
Of all these fruits, the Muscadine grape, Vitis rotundifoUa 
Michx. is the most unique. The latest authority on southern 
botany regards this grape as so distinct that he has placed it 
in a new genus, naming it Muscadinia rotundifoUa (Michx) 
Small. It is distinctly a southern grape, growing wild from 
southern Maryland to Florida, and westward to central 
Texas. Even in the southern states, it is not found wild in 
the higher mountains, and when planted there proves a 
failure. It loves the sandy soils, hence is most abundant 
and reaches its highest development in the light soils of the 
Coastal Plain region. This grape is so abundant on the poor, 
sandy soils along the seashore from Virginia southward, 
that the early explorers, Amadas and Barlowe, gave a perfect 
description, when they exclaimed, “so full of grapes as the 
very beating and surges of the sea overflowed them,” and 
further, “in all the world the like abundance is not to be 
found.” 
HISTORY 
It must be emphatically stated that this species gave this 
country the first native grape to be brought into cultivation. 
Authentic records show that the Scuppemong grape was in 
cultivation in eastern North Carolina as early as 1760, and 
the indications are that it had been in cultivation for some 
time previous to that date. The original Scuppemong vine 
was found in Tyrrell County, in northeastern North Carolina, 
by Mr. Isaac Alexander, about 1750. The original vine, 
which is still bearing good crops, was photographed by the 
speaker in 1908. 
CHARACTERISTICS 
This species is so distinct from other grapes that it is 
easily recognized. The vine is a very rampant grower, and 
attains great size; single vines sometimes cover a quarter of 
an acre of ground. The speaker has measured one vine, the 
trunk of which is seven feet six inches in circumference. 
It attains a venerable old age, often passing the century 
mark. One of the striking features of this grape is the 
behavior of the trunk, which often splits up into several 
divisions when it becomes very old. The wood is hard, light 
gray in color, and the central portion, commonly spoken of as 
the pith, passes through the nodes, differing in this respect 
from all other species, except its close relative, Vitis munsoni- 
ana. The leaves are bright green, shiny, and comparatively 
small. The tendrils are simple, which distinguishes this 
species readily from all others save one. A marked peculi¬ 
arity of old vines is the habit of producing numerous aerial 
Raleigh, North Carolina 
roots on the large branches, especially when the vine is grown 
on a dense arbor. These sometimes become long enough to 
reach to the ground where they will grow into the soil like 
ordinary roots. 
The vines also present some marked correlations: The 
Scuppemong and other varieties producing light or white 
fmit, have greenish tendrils, nodes, and white-tipped aerial 
roots. The varieties with black or purple fmit have reddish 
tendrils, nodes, and aerial roots. 
The flowers are produced in clusters, varying from ten to 
sixty in number. They contain stamens, but the pollen is 
worthless, at least in our cultivated varieties, hence they are 
self-sterile. The flowers, which are produced in great 
abundance, appear very late, during June in North Carolina. 
The blooming season of each variety lasts about four weeks. 
Considerably more than half of the wild vines produce only 
male flowers. Nurserymen should propagate and offer for 
sale male vines. At the present time only one nurseryman 
in the South is doing this. 
The fmit is produced in small clusters, and with many 
varieties falls or “shatters” as soon as ripe. The berries are 
large, and are either black, purple, red, or white in color. 
The skin is generally very thick and tough. The pulp is 
tender, juicy, and very aromatic. In quality they rank from 
poor to excellent, depending on the variety. 
Most of the varieties are very prolific. Some vines have 
produced at the rate of 870 bushels per acre. 
The vines and fmit are comparatively free from diseases 
and insects. No insect injury of any consequence is done; 
the vine is seldom, and the fmit never, seriously injured by 
any disease. 
CULTURE 
The methods of growing this grape are somewhat unique. 
It is difficult to propagate from cuttings, and the laborious 
method of layering must be resorted to. This has retarded 
its distribution to a marked degree. 
The vines are seldom pmned, and probably do better 
without pmning than any other grape in cultivation. The 
size of the berries is not materially reduced by lack of pmning, 
and the crop is usually abundant with such treatment. 
Many of those who have attempted pruning have given it up, 
stating that it does more harm than good. The principal 
reason for this is that the pruning has usually been done dur¬ 
ing the wrong time of the year. If these vines are pmned 
during late winter or early spring the result is such excessive 
bleeding that the plant is materially weakened, and it takes 
from two to three years for the vine to recuperate. If the 
vine is pruned during the summer, when in full leaf, or during 
the fall months, soon after the leaves fall, there is no bleeding, 
and no injury results. In this way, the vine can be kept 
within bounds, the clusters will be larger, and the fmit can 
be more easily gathered. 
In most cases, the vines are still grown on the cmde, old- 
fashioned arbors; and this beats any other mode of training. 
