Flora of North America species comparison

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Vitis girdiana

desert wild grape, Southern California grape, Southern California or desert wild grape, Southern California wild grape
Habit Plants high climbing, sparsely branched.
Branches

bark exfoliating in plates;

nodal diaphragms 1.5–3 mm thick;

branchlets terete to slightly angled, tomentose, tomentum usually persistent, growing tips not enveloped by unfolding leaves;

tendrils along length of branchlets, persistent, branched, tendrils (or inflorescences) at only 2 consecutive nodes;

nodes not red-banded.
Leaves

stipules usually 3.5+ mm;

petiole 1/2 to ± equaling blade;

blade cordate, 5–10 cm, usually unlobed, sometimes 3-shouldered, rarely shallowly 3-lobed, apex acute to short acuminate, abaxial surface not glaucous, moderately to densely tomentose, visible through hairs, adaxial surface sparsely to moderately tomentose, glabrescent.
Inflorescences

8–18 cm.
Flowers

functionally unisexual.
Berries

dark purple to black, slightly or not glaucous, globose, 4–6 mm diam., skin separating from pulp;

lenticels absent.
2n

= 38.

Vitis girdiana
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun; fruiting Jul–Sep.
Habitat Stream banks, canyon bottoms.
Elevation 10–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Vitis girdiana is known from Inyo, Kern, and Santa Barbara counties and southward. It is morphologically very similar to and intergrades and hybridizes with V. californica in central California. Hybridization with V. vinifera is also probable, making identifications of some specimens quite difficult. Vitis girdiana intergrades also with V. arizonica in eastern Inyo and San Bernardino counties near the California-Nevada border. The V. californica-girdiana-arizonica species complex is in need of in-depth field and experimental studies.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 12.
Parent taxa Vitaceae > Vitis > subg. Vitis
Sibling taxa
V. acerifolia, V. aestivalis, V. arizonica, V. californica, V. cinerea, V. labrusca, V. monticola, V. mustangensis, V. palmata, V. riparia, V. rotundifolia, V. rupestris, V. shuttleworthii, V. vinifera, V. vulpina, V. ×champinii, V. ×doaniana, V. ×novae-angliae
Name authority Munson: Proc. Annual Meetings Soc. Promot. Agric. Sci. 8: 59. (1887)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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