Doaniana is quite variable, some specimens being nearly glabrous at maturity while others are densely covered with white pubescence. Munson has separated the species into two forms which he calls the early Doaniana and the late Doaniana. The species was described and named by Munson in 1890.
It is found chiefly in northwest Texas but it ranges from Oklahoma to beyond the Pecos River in New Mexico. It is considered by Bailey and Viala to be a probable hybrid with Vitis candicans as one of the parents. Doaniana is exceedingly hardy, withstanding great cold as well as great heat. It apparently prefers rather light soils as it is indigenous to sandbanks along rivers and the beds of sandy ravines.
Munson states that in cultivation it does well in any but very limy soils. The fruit is of comparatively good quality but the skin possesses some of the pungency of Candicans. The berries are quite persistent, hanging to the pedicel some time after ripe. The vines are not productive. The character of the must is apparently unknown. The roots are hard, penetrate deeply into the soil, and are resistant to phylloxera though somewhat variable in this respect. Doaniana grows readily from cuttings and grafts well in the vineyard. The species blossoms with or just before Labrusca. It is of doubtful value to the southern grape-growers and is of no value in the North.
18. VITIS AESTIVALIS Michx.
1. (?) Marshall, 1785:165. V. vinifera americana; American grape vine. 2. (?) Walter, 1788:242. V. Labrusca. 3. Michaux, 2:230. 1803. 4. Bartram, Dom. Enc., 5:289. 1804. V. sylvestris; V. occidentalis; Common Blue grape; Bunch grape. 5. Muhlenberg, 1813:27. V. intermedia; V. aestivalis; Summer grape. 6. Pursh, 1:169. 1814. V. vulpina; V. labrusca; Summer grape. 7. Nuttall, 1:143. 1818. 8. Elliott, 2:688. 1824. 9. Torrey, Fl. of N. & M. Sta., 1826:121. 10. Rafinesque, 1830:9. V. bracteata; V. labrusca; V. aestivalis; Sour grape. 11. Prince, 1830:199. V. intermedia; V. sylvestris; V. occidentalis; Summer grape; Little grape; Bunch grape; Blue grape. 12. Torrey, Fl. of N. Y., 1:146. 1843. V. intermedia; Summer grape. 13. Darlington, 1853:50. Little grape; Summer grape. 14. Le Conte, Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci., 6:272. 1853. V. araneosus. 15. Ib., Ib., 6:271. 1853. V. bracteata; V. aestivalis; Duck-shot grape; Swamp grape. 16. Buckley, U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt., 1861:481, 482. Frost grape; Chicken grape. 17. Stayman, Gar. Mon., 11:37, 38, 40. 1869. Summer grape. 18. Grape Cult., 1:4, 7, 113. 1869. 19. Engelmann, Mo. Ent. Rpt., 1872:61. Summer grape. 20. Engelmann, Bush. Cat., 1883:10, 11, 12, 14, 16. Summer grape. 21. Bush, Ib., 1883:22. 22. Munson, Am. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1885:134. Summer grape. 23. Ib., Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt., 1885:97, 98. Summer grape. 24. Planchon, De Candolle’s Mon. Phan., 5:323, 334. 1887. Summer grape; Chicken grape; Little grape. 25. Munson, Gar. and For., 3:474. 1890. 26. Ib., U. S. D. A. Pom. Bul., 3:11. 1890. 27. Ib., Bush. Cat., 1894:20, 22, 27, 28. Summer grape. 28. Bailey, Gray’s Syn. Fl., 1:427. 1897. Summer grape; Bunch grape; Pigeon grape; V. sylvestris; V. occidentalis; V. Americana; V. Nortoni; V. labrusca, var. aestivalis; V. bracteata; V. araneosus. 29. Britton and Brown, 2:409. 1897. Summer grape; Small grape. 30. Munson, Tex. Sta. Bul., 56:231, 234, 266. 1900. 31. Viala and Ravaz, Am. Vines, 1903:42, 59.
Vine very vigorous; shoots slightly pubescent or smooth when young; diaphragms medium to rather thick; tendrils intermittent, usually bifid. Leaves with short, broad stipules; leaf-blade medium to very large, rather thin when young but becoming rather thick; petiolar sinus deep, usually narrow, frequently overlapping; margin rarely entire, usually three- to five-lobed; teeth dentate, shallow, medium wide; upper surface rather dark green; lower surface with more or less reddish or rusty pubescence which, in mature leaves, usually shows in patches on the ribs and veins; petioles frequently pubescent. Clusters medium to large, usually long, not much branched, with long peduncle. Berries small to medium, with moderate amount of bloom, usually somewhat astringent. Seeds two to three, of medium size to above, plump, usually smooth, not notched; chalaza oval, distinct; raphe a distinct cord-like ridge. Leafing and ripening fruit late to very late. (See Plate.)
Vitis aestivalis is variable, particularly in its leaf characters, such as quantity of pubescence, size, shape and thickness of leaf. Those who are most familiar with it are of the opinion that in a general way the leaves increase in thickness southward and that the pubescence diminishes in quantity and becomes stiffer on dry, poor soils.
