Flora of North America species comparison

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Vitis vinifera

Vitis riparia

cultivated grape, European grape, grape of commerce, wine grape

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

bark exfoliating in shreds or plates;

nodal diaphragms 3–5 mm thick;

branchlets terete to slightly angled, pubescent, sometimes glabrescent, growing tips not enveloped by unfolding leaves;

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

nodes not red-banded.

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.
Leaves

stipules usually more than 3.5 mm;

petiole ± equaling blade;

blade cordate-ovate to cordate-orbiculate, 12–20 cm, usually 3-shouldered to 3–5-lobed, sometimes deeply so, apex acute to short acuminate, abaxial surface not glaucous, sparsely pubescent to glabrate, visible through hairs, adaxial surface usually glabrous.

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

10–20 cm.

(4–)9–12 cm.
Flowers

bisexual.

functionally unisexual.
Berries

usually reddish purple to nearly black, sometimes yellow-green, ± glaucous, oblong to ellipsoid, 8–25 mm diam., skin adhering to pulp;

lenticels absent.

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

lenticels absent.
2n

= 38, 76.

= 38.

Vitis vinifera

Vitis riparia
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun; fruiting Jul–Sep. Flowering Apr–Jun; fruiting Aug–Sep.
Habitat Riparian areas, disturbed sites. Stream and riverbanks, pond margins, alluvial woodlands, ravines, thickets, roadsides, fencerows.
Elevation 0–1200 m. (0–3900 ft.) 0–2200 m. (0–7200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MA; NH; NY; OR; PA; WA; BC; Europe [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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]
Discussion

Vitis vinifera and cultivars formed by hybridization between it and native North American species or through selection are cultivated in Europe, many parts of the United States and southern Canada, and parts of Central and South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia; these have been reported persisting from cultivation (for example, in California, Utah, and Virginia) and occasionally escaping. Some specimens keying here may represent naturally occurring hybrids between native species and V. vinifera or its hybrid cultivars.

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

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.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 8. FNA vol. 12, p. 11.
Parent taxa Vitaceae > Vitis > subg. Vitis Vitaceae > Vitis > subg. Vitis
Sibling taxa
V. acerifolia, V. aestivalis, V. arizonica, V. californica, V. cinerea, V. girdiana, V. labrusca, V. monticola, V. mustangensis, V. palmata, V. riparia, V. rotundifolia, V. rupestris, V. shuttleworthii, V. vulpina, V. ×champinii, V. ×doaniana, V. ×novae-angliae
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
Synonyms V. cordifolia var. riparia, V. riparia var. syrticola, V. vulpina subsp. riparia, V. vulpina var. syrticola
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 202. (1753) Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 231. (1803)
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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