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chicken grape, fox grape, frost grape, vigne des renards, wild grape, winter grape

desert wild grape, Southern California grape, Southern California or desert wild grape, Southern California wild grape

Habit Plants moderate to high climbing, sparsely branched. Plants high climbing, sparsely branched.
Branches

bark exfoliating in shreds;

nodal diaphragms 1–2.5 mm thick;

branchlets gray to green or brown, if purplish only on one side, terete, glabrous, growing tips not 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 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 1.5–3 mm;

petiole ± equaling blade;

blade cordate, (5–)9–18 cm, usually unlobed or shallowly 3-lobed, sometimes deeply lobed on ground shoots, apex acute to short acuminate, abaxial surface not glaucous, glabrous, visible, veins and vein axils sometimes hirtellous, adaxial surface usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely hirtellous.

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

9–19 cm.

8–18 cm.

Flowers

functionally unisexual.

functionally unisexual.

Berries

black, usually not, sometimes very slightly, glaucous, globose, 8–12 mm diam., skin separating from pulp;

lenticels absent.

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

lenticels absent.

2n

= 38.

= 38.

Vitis vulpina

Vitis girdiana

Phenology Flowering May; fruiting Jul–Aug. Flowering Apr–Jun; fruiting Jul–Sep.
Habitat Upland forests, floodplain forests, woodland borders, prairies, fencerows, thickets, roadsides. Stream banks, canyon bottoms.
Elevation 0–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.) 10–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NE; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; WV; ON
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[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
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[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. 15. FNA vol. 12, p. 12.
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. vinifera, V. ×champinii, V. ×doaniana, V. ×novae-angliae
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
Synonyms V. cordifolia, V. cordifolia var. sempervirens, V. illex, V. pullaria
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 203. (1753) Munson: Proc. Annual Meetings Soc. Promot. Agric. Sci. 8: 59. (1887)
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