The clusters of fruit are small, with berries about the size of a currant and varying from sweet to sour. The berry is characterized by much pigment under the skin. The fruit has a sprightly taste wholly free from any disagreeable foxiness. According to Munson, it is too unproductive to be profitable. The sugar and acid content of the must is not known. Jaeger states that Rupestris wine sent to France was there judged as decidedly the best American claret yet tested.
Rupestris under cultivation is said to be very resistant to rot and mildew of the foliage. It is considered hardy by those familiar with it in the Southwest, and Campbell states that it withstood, without injury, 32 degrees below zero at Delaware, Ohio. The attention of hybridizers was attracted to this species over thirty years ago and various hybrids have been produced by Jaeger, Munson, Campbell and Millardet, all of whom considered Rupestris of great promise for grape-breeding. The root system of Rupestris is peculiar in that the roots penetrate at once deeply into the ground instead of extending laterally as in other species. Like those of Riparia, the roots are slender, hard, and resistant to the phylloxera. The species is easily propagated by cuttings. According to Husmann[132] the vines bench-graft readily but are difficult to handle in field grafting.
VITIS RUPESTRIS DISSECTA Eggert.
1. Bailey, Gray’s Syn. Fl., 1:422. 1897. V. rupestris, var. DISSECTA.
Vitis rupestris dissecta was named by H. Eggert of St. Louis, the name being placed on herbarium specimens but apparently not published by him. According to Bailey it differs from the typical forms of the species in having “more ovate leaves and very long teeth, and a strong tendency towards irregular lobing.” It is found in Missouri.