[++] Leaves pubescent and floccose, especially beneath and when young.
2. V. æstivàlis, Michx. (Summer Grape.) Branchlets terete; leaves large, entire or more or less deeply and obtusely 3–5-lobed, with short broad teeth, very woolly and mostly red or rusty when young; berries middle-sized, black with a bloom, in compact bunches.—Thickets; common. May, June. Berries pleasant, ripe in Sept.—V. bicolor, LeConte, has its leaves smoothish when old and pale or glaucous beneath; common north and westward.
3. V. cinèrea, Engelm. (Downy Grape.) Branchlets angular; pubescence whitish or grayish, persistent; leaves entire or slightly 3-lobed; inflorescence large and loose; berries small, black without bloom.—Central Ill. to Kan. and Tex.
[++][++] Leaves glabrous and mostly shining, or short-hairy especially on the ribs beneath, incisely lobed or undivided.
4. V. cordifòlia, Michx. (Frost or Chicken Grape.) Leaves 3–4´ wide, not lobed or slightly 3-lobed, cordate with a deep acute sinus, acuminate, coarsely and sharply toothed; stipules small; inflorescence ample, loose; berries small, black and shining, very acerb, ripening after frosts; seeds 1 or 2, rather large, with a prominent rhaphe.—Thickets and stream-banks, New Eng. to central Ill., Mo., Neb., and southward. May, June.
5. V. ripària, Michx. Differing from the last in the larger and more persistent stipules (2–3´´ long), more shining and more usually 3-lobed leaves with a broad rounded or truncate sinus and large acute or acuminate teeth, smaller compact inflorescence, and berries (4–5´´ broad) with a bloom, sweet and very juicy, ripening from July to Sept.; seeds very small; rhaphe indistinct. (V. cordifolia, var. riparia, Gray.)—Stream-banks or near water, W. New Eng. to Penn., west to Minn. and Kan. Eastward the berries are sour and ripen late.
6. V. palmàta, Vahl. Branches bright red; leaves dark green and dull, 3–5-lobed, with a broad sinus, the lobes usually long-acuminate; inflorescence large and loose; berries black, without bloom, ripening late; seeds very large and rounded; otherwise like n. 5. (V. rubra, Michx.)—Ill. and Mo.
7. V. rupéstris, Scheele. (Sand or Sugar Grape.) Usually low and bushy, often without tendrils; leaves rather small, shining, broadly cordate, abruptly pointed, with broad coarse teeth, rarely slightly lobed; berries rather small, sweet, in very small close bunches, ripe in Aug.—Mo. to Tex.; also found in Tenn., and reported from banks of the Potomac, near Washington.
§ 2. MUSCADÍNIA. Bark closely adherent on the branches; pith continuous through the nodes; tendrils simple, intermittent; seeds with transverse wrinkles on both sides.
8. V. rotundifòlia, Michx. (Muscadine, Bullace, or Southern Fox-Grape.) Leaves shining both sides, small, rounded with a heart-shaped base, very coarsely toothed with broad and bluntish teeth, seldom lobed; panicles small, densely flowered; berries large (½–¾´ in diameter), musky, purplish without a bloom, with a thick and tough skin, ripe early in autumn. (V. vulpina, Man., not L.?)—River-banks, Md. to Ky., Mo., Kan., and southward. May.—Branchlets minutely warty. This is the original of the Scuppernong Grape, etc.