VITIS ROTUNDIFOLIA

(muscadine, scuppernong ,bullace)

By Audrey Vizena

Vitis rotundifolia belongs to sub-genus Muscadiniae, Family Vitacae, Order Rhamnales, and Phylum Terebinthates.

this was supposed to be a picture of muscadines

General Information

Vitis rotundifolia is one of three species included in a separate sub-genus called Muscadiniae. Modern cultivated grapes of this species are commonly called muscadines, with the bronze colored types occasionally referred to as scuppernongs (Galletta, 1990).

Identification

Muscadines are easily identified from others in the Vitis genus. It is very vigorous and its branches may grow to a length of 100 ft. (Everett, 1990). The fruit does not grow in conventional bunches, and when ripe it can be readily shaken from its vine (Gohdes, 1982). Muscadine clusters are small, usually containing 6 - 24 berries( Galletta,1990). See the table below for a general identification between muscadines and other species of Vitis.

Vitis
Muscadine
Lenticels
absent
present
Tendrils
forked
simple
Seeds
ovoid-shaped
oblong-shaped
Pith
discontinuous
continuos
Chromosome #
2n = 38
2n = 40
# Species Identified
59
3

Table 1. Differences between Vitis and Muscadine

(incomplete table courtesy Mullins, et. All, 1992).

Geography

Muscadines occur only in North America( Mullins, et. all, 1992) and they are generally limited in their production to the cotton belt areas of the southern United States, which have a moderate climate (Galetta, 1990). The V. Rotundifolia is abundant all throughout the southern states, where it grows wild, and is also cultivated as a fruit crop. They are native to Georgia and have been produced there for decades. The climate and soil in Georgia are suitable for production muscadines as well as bunch grapes. However, bunch grapes are more adapted to North Georgia, while muscadines thrive in middle and South Georgia (Florkowski, 1993). V.rotundifolia occurs in Athens Clarke County (Jones, 1990).and has also been seen at Sam's Farm in a 1 hectare plot marked off into a river quadrat and upland quadrat. Here, it grows abundantly (personal observation), and it can be assumed to be very common throughout Georgia.

Natural History

As previously mentioned, the vine V. rotundifolia is limited to the southern United States, where there is a moderate climate. Vines should not be planted where temperatures drop below ten degrees Fahrenheit. Muscadine grapes are used not only n wine production, but also in unfermented juice, pies, jellies, and sauces. Mature berries of most cultivars do not adhere to stems as well as bunch grapes. Also, berries ripen unevenly because of the long flowering period (early May - mid June), and the main crop is set over a 3 -4 week period ( Galletta, 1990).

References

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

Florkowski, W., Hubbard E. And Snipes, L Commercial Bunch grapes and Muscadine Vine Inventory, Georgia 1991. Research Report # 615. 1993.

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

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

Jones, S. And Coile, N. Checklist of the Vascular Flora of Clarke County Georgia. 1990. Herbarium Dept. Of Biology. University of Georgia.

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