VITIS

(commonly known as grapevine)

Family: Vitacea

By Audrey Vizena

Information:

The genus Vitis contains about sixty species. They are found mainly in the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere and are distributed almost equally between America and Asia(Mullins, et. all, 1992). Vitis plants are perennial, woody deciduous vines with tendrils opposite many leaves which aid the plant in attachment to supports in cultivation and surrounding vegetation in nature. Grape flower parts are in fives, or multiples thereof, and the leaves are simple and palmately lobed(Galletta, 1990). Grapes are polygamodioecious, requiring nines of both sexes for unequivocal identification (Moore, 1985). This can sometimes make it difficult in distinguishing among the many different species. The genus Vitis is subdivided into two subgenera: Euvitis and Muscadiniae based on various morphological criteria and somatic chromosome number, with the former having 38 and the latter having 40.

Among Vitaceae's nine genera, only the genus Vitis produces grapes suitable for wine making. Four of the other nine genera do produce grapes and grape-like berries, but none have given an adequate wine like Vitis(Robinson, 1986). The grapevine is the world's most widely grown fruit plant; it is cultivated on all continents except Antarctica. All over the world, grapes are grown for use as fresh and dried fruit, grape juice, table wines, champagne, etc. However, more than 80% of the world's grape crop is used for wine production (Mullins et. all, 1992).

Species List:

There are about 30 species of grapes native to extensive areas of the United States (Galletta,1990). One species alone, Vitis vinifera, responsible for 99.998% of the world's wine production, is the only one native to Europe and Central Asia (Robinson, 1986). See the list below for a table of species. Note: because of the large number of species and variations among species name, this list will be incomplete. Also, the common names have been included where applicable.
SUB-GENUS EUVITES

American Species

SPECIES NAME
AREA OF ORIGIN
V. aestivalis (summet, pigeon, or winter grape)
eastern zone
V. arizonica
western zone
V.baileyana
eastern zone
V.berlanderi
cental zone
V. bi color
eastern zone
V. blancoii
eastern zone
V.bourgoeana
tropical &equatorial zones
V. californica
western zone
V. candicans
central zone
V. caribaea
tropical & equatorial zones
V. champinii
eastern zone
V. cinera
central zone
V. cordifolia
cental zone
V. coriacea
Florida and the Bahamas
V. cloaniona
eastern zone
V. gigas
Florida and the Bahamas
V. labrusca( fox grape, concord grape)
eastern zone
V. linceunici ( post oak grape)
eastern zone
V. monticola
cental zone
V. riparia
central zone
V. rupestrus ( rock, July, or Mountain grape)
central zone
V. simpsonnii
eastern zone
V. treleasei
eastern zone

Eastern Asian Species

V. amurensis
Japan, Mongolia, Sakhalin Is.
V. armata
China
V. balansaeana
Tonkin
V. coignetiae
Japan, Sakhalin Is., Korea
V. davidii
China
V. flexuosa
Korea, Japan, India, Nepal
V. lanata
India, Nepal, Dekken, S. China
V. pagnucici
China
V. pedicellata
Himalayan Mtns.
V. pentagona
China
V. piasezkii
China
V. retordi
Tonkin
V. romaneti
China
V. romanetia
China
V. rutilans
China
V. thunbergii
Japan, Korea, Formosa, S. West China
V. wilsonaea
China

European and East Central Asian Species

V. vinifera
Middle East, etc.

SUB GENUS MUSCADINIAE

North American Species

V. munsoniana( bird, or everbearing grape)
V. popenoei
V. rotundifolia (muscadine, scuppernong)
south eastern zone

-courtesy Galletta and Himelrick, 1990; Robinson, 1986; Mullins et. all, 1992).

Identification
due to sheer number of species, see Jancis Robinson's Vines Grapes and Wines 1986, or The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Gardening for a description of the differences among species.

Vitis labrusca was the first American vine to be identified, in 1763 (Robinson, 1986). It most likely arose in the Appalachian mountains area, with a preference for sandy habitats, an environment unfavorable to many other Vitis species (Mullins et. all, 1992). V.labrusca is also known as the concord, or the Fox grape, for its "foxy" flavor. It is large leaved and vigorous with dark purple, or reddish fruit, with a sweet musky taste (Everett, 1990). V. labrusca belongs to the subgenus Euvites and differs from V. rotundifolia, which belongs to sub-genus Muscadiniae. V. rotundifolia is a very vigorous vine; its branches may grow to a length of 100 ft. The rounded or ovate leaves are up to 41/2 in. long and wide and the fruits are large, round, and purple, with a musky flavor (Everett, 1990). The fruit does not grow in conventional bunches, and when ripe can be shaken from the vine The fruit is also known by the name muscadine or scuppernong, and can be found native to the southern states, growing nowhere else, save as an exotic(Gohdes, 1982).

References

Everett, T.H. (Ed.) (1990). New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Gardeninng. New York, NY: Greystone Press

Galletta, G.J. (Ed.). (1990). Small Fruit Crop Management. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prenntice-Hall

Gohdes, C. (1982). Scuppernong: North Carolina's Grape and Its' Wines. North Carolina: Duke University Press

Moore, M. (1985). A Systematic Study of Selected Vitis Taxa in the Southeastern United States Athens, Georgia.

Mullins, M., Bouquet, A., & Williams, L. (1992). Biology of the Grapevine. Cambridge: University Press

Robinson, J. (1986). Vines, Grapes, and Wines. London: Mitchell Beazley.

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