Flora of North America species comparison

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Vitis riparia

Vitis subg. Vitis

frost grape, river grape, river-bank grape, vigne de rivages
Habit Plants usually moderate to high climbing, sometimes sprawling, sparsely branched.
Branches

bark exfoliating in shreds;

nodal diaphragms to 0.5 mm thick;

branchlets terete, glabrous or sparsely hirtellous, growing tips enveloped by unfolding leaves, glabrous or sparsely hairy;

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

nodes not red-banded.

bark exfoliating;

lenticels inconspicuous or absent;

pith interrupted by nodal diaphragms;

tendrils branched or absent.
Leaves

stipules 3–5 mm;

petiole 1/2 to ± equaling blade;

blade cordate, 6–20 cm, 3-shouldered to shallowly 3-lobed, apex short acuminate, abaxial surface not glaucous, glabrate, visible through hairs, veins and vein axils hirtellous, adaxial surface glabrous.

Inflorescences

(4–)9–12 cm.

Flowers

functionally unisexual.

Berries

black, heavily glaucous, globose, 8–12 mm diam., skin separating from pulp;

lenticels absent.

x

= 19.
2n

= 38.

Vitis riparia

Vitis subg. Vitis
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun; fruiting Aug–Sep.
Habitat Stream and riverbanks, pond margins, alluvial woodlands, ravines, thickets, roadsides, fencerows.
Elevation 0–2200 m. (0–7200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CO; CT; DC; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; MB; NB; NS; ON; QC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
North America; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Eurasia [Introduced nearly worldwide]
Discussion

Vitis riparia is native throughout much of its range. It has become naturalized in a few locations in Saskatchewan, Oregon, and Washington. Plants on dunes around the Great Lakes with hairier petioles and leaf blades sometimes have been recognized as var. syrticola; variation in hairiness is essentially continuous, however, and the form is not worthy of taxonomic recognition (P. M. Catling and G. Mitrow 2005).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Species ca. 70 (18, including 3 hybrids, in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 11. FNA vol. 12, p. 8.
Parent taxa Vitaceae > Vitis > subg. Vitis Vitaceae > Vitis
Sibling taxa
V. acerifolia, V. aestivalis, V. arizonica, V. californica, V. cinerea, V. girdiana, V. labrusca, V. monticola, V. mustangensis, V. palmata, V. rotundifolia, V. rupestris, V. shuttleworthii, V. vinifera, V. vulpina, V. ×champinii, V. ×doaniana, V. ×novae-angliae
Subordinate taxa
Synonyms V. cordifolia var. riparia, V. riparia var. syrticola, V. vulpina subsp. riparia, V. vulpina var. syrticola
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 231. (1803) unknown
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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(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

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