Flora of North America species comparison

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Vitis vinifera

Vitis rupestris

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

rock grape, sand grape
Habit Plants sprawling to moderately high climbing, sparsely branched. Plants sprawling to low climbing, shrubby, much 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 tardily exfoliating in plates;

nodal diaphragms to 1 mm thick;

branchlets terete, usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely hirtellous, growing tips enveloped by unfolding leaves;

tendrils absent or only at distalmost nodes, soon deciduous if not attached to support, 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 3–6.5 mm;

petiole 1/2 blade;

blade reniform, conduplicately folded, 5–10 cm, apex acute to short acuminate, usually 3-shouldered, rarely shallowly 3-lobed, abaxial surface not glaucous, usually glabrous, visible through hairs, veins and vein axils sometimes sparsely hirtellous, adaxial surface usually glabrous.
Inflorescences

10–20 cm.

4–7 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, slightly glaucous, globose, 8–12 mm diam., skin separating from pulp;

lenticels absent.
2n

= 38, 76.

= 38.

Vitis vinifera

Vitis rupestris
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun; fruiting Jul–Sep. Flowering Apr–May; fruiting Aug–Sep.
Habitat Riparian areas, disturbed sites. Gravelly banks, river bottoms, stream beds, washes, often calcareous soils.
Elevation 0–1200 m. (0–3900 ft.) 70–500 m. (200–1600 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
AR; DC; IN; KY; MD; MO; OK; PA; TN; TX; VA; WV
[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 rupestris once was widely scattered throughout most of its range, but now mostly is rare and may have been extirpated in many locations, apparently due to habitat loss. It is most common in the Ozark region of northern Arkansas and the southern half of Missouri, but is imperiled elsewhere (http://explorer.natureserve.org). It is persisting from cultivation in California and some other locations (J. Wen, pers. obs.; E. B. Wada and M. A. Walker, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=48433). Reports from Illinois were based on misidentifications (R. H. Mohlenbrock 2014). The species was used to develop many grape hybrids due to its resistance to disease (J. Gerrath et al. 2015)

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 8. FNA vol. 12, p. 10.
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. riparia, V. rotundifolia, V. shuttleworthii, V. vinifera, V. vulpina, V. ×champinii, V. ×doaniana, V. ×novae-angliae
Synonyms V. rupestris var. dissecta
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 202. (1753) Scheele: Linnaea 21: 591. (1848)
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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