The scuppernong is a large variety of
muscadine
''Vitis rotundifolia'', or muscadine, is a grapevine species native to the southeastern and south-central United States. The growth range extends from Florida to New Jersey coast, and west to eastern Texas and Oklahoma. It has been extensive ...
(''Vitis rotundifolia''), a species of
grape
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years a ...
native to the Southern United States. It is usually a greenish or bronze color and is similar in appearance and texture to a white grape, but rounder and larger and first known as the 'big white grape'. The grape is commonly known as the "scuplin" in some areas of the
Deep South
The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the wa ...
. It is also known as the "scufalum", "scupanon", "scupadine", "scuppernine", "scupnun", or "scufadine" in some parts of the South. The scuppernong is the state fruit of North Carolina.
History
The name comes from the
Scuppernong River in
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...
mainly along the coastal plain. It was first mentioned as a "white grape" in a written logbook by the
Florentine explorer
Giovanni de Verrazzano while exploring the
Cape Fear River
The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The river is formed at the confluence of the Haw River and the Deep River (North Caro ...
Valley in 1524. He wrote "...Many vines growing naturally there...".
Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebelli ...
's explorers, the captains
Philip Amadas
Philip Amadas (1550–1618) was a naval commander and explorer in Elizabethan England. Little is known from his early life, but he grew up within a wealthy merchant family in southwestern England. Amadas was instrumental in the early years of t ...
and
Arthur Barlowe
Arthur Barlowe (1550 – 1620) was one of two British captains (the other was Philip Amadas) who, under the direction of Sir Walter Raleigh, left England in 1584 to find land in North America to claim for Queen Elizabeth I of England. Hiaccoun ...
, wrote in 1584 that North Carolina's coast was "...so full of grapes as the very beating and surge of the sea overflowed them...in all the world, the like abundance is not to be found." He may have been referring to
Sargasso seaweed from coral reefs, which can be seen washed up on shore after a major storm off the NC coast. The seaweed has berrylike gas-filled bladders looking much like grapes to keep the fronds afloat. However, in 1585, Governor
Ralph Lane
Sir Ralph Lane (c. 1532 – October 1603)
Boston: Directors of the Old South Work, 1902, ''Documenting the America ...
, when describing North Carolina to Raleigh, stated that "We have discovered the main to be the goodliest soil under the cope of heaven, so abounding with sweet trees that bring rich and pleasant, grapes of such greatness, yet wild, as France, Spain, nor Italy hath no greater...".
It was first cultivated during the 17th century, particularly in
Tyrell County, North Carolina
Tyrrell County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,245, making it the least populous county in North Carolina. Its county seat is Columbia. The county was created in 1729 as ...
. Isaac Alexander found it while hunting along the banks of a stream feeding into Scuppernong Lake in 1755; it is mentioned in the North Carolina official state toast. The name itself traces back to the
Algonquian word ''ascopo'' meaning "sweet bay tree".
Cultivation
The
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...
grows where temperatures seldom fall below 10° Fahrenheit (–12 °C). Injury can occur where winter temperatures drop below 0° Fahrenheit (–18 °C). Some
cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...
s such as Magnolia, Carlos, and Sterling survive north to Virginia and west to the Blue Ridge Mountain foothills. Muscadines have a high tolerance to diseases and pests. Over 100 years of breeding has resulted in several bronze cultivars such as Carlos, Doreen, Magnolia and Triumph, that are distinguished by being perfect flowered (male and female flower parts together) from the Scuppernong variety with only female flower parts.
The "Mother Vine"
Possibly the
oldest cultivated grapevine in the world is the 400-year-old scuppernong "Mother Vine" growing on
Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island () is an island in Dare County, bordered by the Outer Banks of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke, a Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of Engl ...
,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...
.
Use of scuppernong in the arts
In music
''Scuppernong'' is a piece for piano in three movements by
John Wesley Work III
John Wesley Work III (July 15, 1901 – May 17, 1967) was a composer, educator, choral director, musicologist and scholar of African-American folklore and music.
Biography
He was born on July 15, 1901, in Tullahoma, Tennessee, to a family of ...
‘’Broomstraw Philosophers and Scuppernong Wine’’ is a song written by country artist,
Larry Jon Wilson
Larry Jon Wilson (October 7, 1940 – June 21, 2010) was an American country singer, guitarist and musician. He recorded "Through the Eyes of Little Children" and "I Betcha Heaven's on a Dirt Road".
Biography
Born in Swainsboro, Georgia, Wil ...
In literature
Scuppernongs are mentioned in chapters 4 and 22 of ''
To Kill a Mockingbird
''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...
''.
Scuppernong is also mentioned in ''
Charles W. Chesnutt
Charles Waddell Chesnutt (June 20, 1858 – November 15, 1932) was an American author, essayist, political activist and lawyer, best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity in the post-Civ ...
s 1899 collection of short stories ''
The Conjure Woman
''The Conjure Woman'' is a collection of short stories by African-American fiction writer, essayist, and activist Charles W. Chesnutt. First published in 1899, ''The Conjure Woman'' is considered a seminal work of African-American literature compo ...
''
They are also mentioned by the name "scupadine" in chapter 6 of ''
Salvage the Bones
''Salvage the Bones'' is the second novel by American author Jesmyn Ward and published by Bloomsbury in 2011. The novel explores the plight of a working-class African-American family in Mississippi as they prepare for Hurricane Katrina and follow ...
''.
"In The Scuppernongs" is the title of a particularly terrifying chapter in ''
Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone'', the ninth book in the ''
Outlander'' series by Diana Gabaldon.
In the movie ''
The Bad Seed'', Rhoda Penmark talks about the "scuppernong arbor" in the family's yard.
References
External links
{{Wiktionary-inline, scuppernong
VisitNC.com North Carolina's Toast To The MotherVineCharlestonWine.com History of the Muscadine - The South’s Own Grape
Grape varieties
Crops originating from the United States
Cuisine of the Southern United States
American wine
Symbols of North Carolina