''Vitis rupestris'' is 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 approximately 8,0 ...

native to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

that is known by many common names including July, Coon, sand, sugar, beach, bush, currant, ingar, rock, and mountain grape. It is used for breeding several French-American hybrids as well as many root stocks.

Distribution and ecology

The natural distribution of ''Vitis rupestris'' is concentrated in the Ozark Hills of

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. The species is less common in scattered populations east as far as

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and southwest into

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. There are a few reports of the species occurring in the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

area of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, but these are most likely escapes from cultivation.Munson, T.V. 1909. Foundations of American Grape Culture. New York: Orange Judd Company.
/ref> ''Vitis rupestris'' is a self-supporting bushy plant that does not grow in the shade, and is found only on rocky riverbanks and streambanks. Much of its habitat has been destroyed due to damming of rivers and destruction of islands for navigation. ''Vitis rupestris'' has been listed as threatened or endangered by Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Known locations of wild ''Vitis rupestris'' are quickly disappearing, which may threaten the future of this grape species. It is found hybridized in parts of its range with the Riverbank grape and other

Vitis ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, bot ...

species.

Botanical description

Growth is tapering, erect, much branched and rarely climbing more than 4 to 8 feet. The roots are slender, wiry and deep and enable it to resist drought by spreading deep underground to find the water table. Wood is smooth and red when young, becoming cylindrical and finely striated when mature with dark colored bark that becomes darker with age. Wood is quite persistent with age and dense but not hard. Buds are small, globose or slightly conical. Tendrils are small and crimson colored with short internodes. Leaves are lanceolate with large stipules with crimson veins. Petiole are deeply and broadly grooved throughout the length. Leaves are distinctly striated and nearly always smooth. Width of the leaves is usually 3" to 4", sometimes 5" . Clusters are very small, sometimes shouldered. Rachis is smooth and light green. Flowers are fertile, stamens recurved and bent laterally with flowers producing abundant pollen. Fruits are 1/4" to 1/2" in diameter, round or slightly flattened around the stem and often doubled like two berries coalesced. The berries are black with little bloom, skin is very thin and tender and pulp is tender and melting. Pulp is deeply colored crimson or violet and part clings closely to the skin. The berries bear 3 to 4 small seeds on clusters around 8" long. Germination is quick and fruit ripens early. The species is able to bear fruit on young shoots pushed out by 2 to 4 year old wood if last year's wood has been lost to winter damage. It propagates easily from cuttings, and the pollen is very prepotent in fertilizing and hybridizing with other

species.

Pest and disease resistance

Has great resistance to drought due to its deep roots penetrating the water table. Where it is unable to do this though it is subject to injury. Foliage is well adapted to resisting fungus and insect attacks, although favored by many grazing mammals. Occasionally attacked by anthracnose but with minimal injury, and resistant to black rot, downy mildew and powdery mildew.

Cultivars and hybrids

Widely used in hybridizing with other species (mostly ''Vitis vinifera'' and ''Vitis lincecumii'') to produce disease resistant

Hybrid grapes Hybrid grapes are grape varieties that are the product of a Hybrid (biology), crossing of two or more ''Vitis'' species. This is in contrast to crossings between grape varieties of the same species, typically ''Vitis vinifera'', the European grape ...

. The species was used extensively to produce varieties able to withstand

Phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); orig ...

on their own roots and withstand attacks of Downy mildew. Breeders that used the species frequently include T.V. Munson,

Albert Seibel Albert Seibel (1844–1936) was a French physician and viticulturist who made hybrid crosses of European wine grapes (''Vitis vinifera'') with native North American grapes. His crosses are known as Seibel grapes. Biography Seibel was born in A ...

(see:

Seibel grapes Seibel grapes are a group of wine grape varieties which originated with the work of French viticulturist Albert Seibel crossing European wine grape with American grape species to increase disease resistance. They were planted widely in France duri ...

), Joannes Seyve and

Elmer Swenson Elmer Swenson (12 December 1913 – 24 December 2004) was an American pioneering grape breeder who introduced a number of new cultivars, effectively revolutionizing grape growing in the Upper Midwest of the United States and other cold and shor ...

(indirectly via hybridizing existing varieties containing 'Vitis rupestris'. 'Vitis rupestris' often contributes a large proportion of ancestries of 'French hybrid' grapes (or 'French direct producers') such as Seyval, although it was often overlooked in its homeland in favor of

Vitis labrusca ''Vitis labrusca'', the fox grape, is a species of grapevines belonging to the ''Vitis'' genus in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The vines are native to eastern North America and are the source of many grape cultivars, including Catawba, ...

. A large proportion of modern European "PIWI" varieties categorized as

Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern ...

contain 'Vitis rupestris' background such as

Solaris Solaris is the Latin word for sun. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Sol ...

and

Regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

. The cultivar known as Rupestris St. George has been widely used in breeding and as a root stock. A popular cultivar in Australia is Vitis vinifera 'Ganzin Glory', a hybrid of V. rupestris and V. vinifera, that does not fruit and is grown for its autumn foliage as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

Gallery

File:Vitis rupestris leaves.jpg, Vitis rupestris growing in Southern France. File:Vitis rupestris.jpg, Vitis rupestris growing in Southern France. File:Photograph of Vitis rupestris from the book The Grapes of New York 1908.jpg, Photograph of Vitis rupestris from the book The Grapes of New York, 1908

References

External links

Missouri Plants, Photos of Vitis rupestris
{{Taxonbar, from=Q138189 rupestris Plants described in 1848 Flora of the United States