Some Fi Hybrids 
41 
“False Hybrids” and “True Hybrids” of Yitis Rotundifolia 
Compared 
If the Rotundifolia-Euvitis hybrids were “false hybrids” then we 
should not be able to distinguish them from yines of the Rotundifolia 
species, they being identical in appearance; if, however, such hybrids 
be not “false hybrids” then we should readily perceive their interme¬ 
diate characters. From the descriptions of the hybrid vines that were 
produced and grown by this station, we note that these differ from the 
vines of the Rotundifolia species in the following: 
Wood: The wood of Rotundifolia vines is greenish in color, hard 
and difficult to graft while that of the hybrids is less green, less hard 
and less difficult to graft. 
Pith: The pith of Rotundifolia vines is green, continuous and 
packed full of starch in the dormant stage while that of the hybrids is 
mostly green, sometimes sappy brown, mostly continuous but indica¬ 
tions of diaphragms are seen at almost every node; starch is packed in 
the green and greenish-brown pith cells but is lacking, except for a few 
stray grains, in the brown pith cells. (See Figs. 3 and 4.) 
Bark: The bark on Rotundifolia vines is of a light brown color, 
overlaid with a thin coat of gray and thickly dotted with gray surface 
lenticels. The bark is persistent on the young wood and on old wood it 
separates in broad plates or patches. In the hybrid the color may vary 
from light to a dark brown overlaid with a very thin coat of gray and 
the lenticels are mostly submerged and almost invisible. The per¬ 
sistence of the bark to the wood and the shedding of the bark in large 
plates or patches is in some cases practically that of the Rotundifolia 
parent, while in one case at least, viz.: Vinifera-Rotundifolia hybrid, 
these characters are practically intermediate. 
Internodes and nodes: The internodes in Rotundifolia vines are 
« 
short and the nodes are not enlarged, while in the hybrid vines the 
internodes are longer on the average and the nodes are somewhat 
enlarged on the bud side. (See Fig. 4.) 
Leafbuds: The leafbuds on Rotundifolia vines are small, subconic 
and pubescent on top while on the hybrid canes they are more or less 
conical, almost smooth and much larger in size. 
Shoots: The shoots of Rotundifolia vines are considered naked, 
while those of the hybrid when the other parent does not have similar 
shoots generally are clothed immediately with leaves. (See Figs. 5, 
11, 14, 15, 23, 25, 26 and 29.) 
Leaves: The leaves of Rotundifolia vines are small, generally not 
lobed but occasionally indications of lobing are noticed in the leaves of 
some vines, smooth and glossy above and below, large acute marginal 
teeth, pubescence only in the angles of veins on the lower side of the 
leaf. The leaves of the hybrid are small, very nearly like those of 
Rotundifolia, intermediate in lobing but sometimes lobed even more 
