The grapes of New York

by U. P. Hedrick

Aestivalis was probably described by some of the botanists before Michaux’s day but, if so, none of the descriptions is sufficiently definite and comprehensive to be recognized with certainty. Michaux was the first to describe it under the name of Aestivalis. It seems to have been generally known, as Bartram described it a short time later under the name of Vitis sylvestris with Vitis occidentalis as a synonym. He says: “This is the most common grape.” Owing to the great variation in the different forms of the species as it was then understood, many of the later botanists gave descriptions of it which did not agree. This uncertainty and the difficulty of giving a description which would fit all of the forms has been relieved in a measure; first, by the new species which have been created, such as Bicolor, Monticola and Cinerea, from what would have once been regarded as Aestivalis; and second, by the description and general acceptance of well-known varietal forms, such as Lincecumii and Bourquiniana.

The division of the original species has also reduced the habitat materially, confining it to the southeastern portion of the United States from southern New York to Florida and westward to the Mississippi River. Aestivalis grows in thickets and openings in the woods and shows no such fondness for streams as Riparia or for thick timber as Labrusca, but is generally confined to uplands. Under favorable circumstances the vines grow to be very large.

Aestivalis is preeminently a wine grape. The fruit usually has a tart, acrid taste, due to the presence of a high percentage of acid, but there is also a large amount of sugar, the scale showing that juice from this species has a much higher percentage of sugar than the sweeter tasting Labruscas. The wine made from varieties of Aestivalis is very rich in coloring matter, and is used by some European vintners to mix with the must of European sorts in order to give the combined product a higher color. The berries are destitute of pulp, have a comparatively thin, tough skin, and a peculiar spicy flavor. The berries hang to the bunch after becoming ripe much better than do those of Labrusca.

The species thrives in a lighter and shallower soil than Labrusca and appears to endure drouth better, although not equaling in this respect either Riparia or Rupestris. A southern or southeastern exposure gives better results for Aestivalis or Aestivalis hybrid vines than a northern one. The French growers report that Aestivalis is very liable to chlorosis on soils which contain much lime. The leaves are never injured by the sun, and they resist the attacks of insects, such as leaf-hoppers, better than any other American species under cultivation. Aestivalis is rarely injured by rot or mildew, according to American experience, but French growers speak of its being susceptible to both.

The hard roots of Aestivalis enable it to resist phylloxera, and varieties with any great amount of the blood of this species are seldom seriously injured by this insect. An objection to Aestivalis, from a horticultural standpoint, is that it does not root well from cuttings. Many authorities speak of it as not rooting at all from cuttings, but this is an overstatement of the facts, as many of the wild and cultivated varieties are occasionally propagated in this manner, and some southern nurseries, located in particularly favorable situations, make a practice of propagating it by this method. It is doubtful, however, if it could be successfully propagated from cuttings in New York. Varieties of this species bear grafting well, especially in the vineyard. Aestivalis blooms just after Labrusca. As might be inferred from its habitat, most cultivated varieties of this species require a longer season to mature their fruit than that of New York. On this account it is probable that Bicolor, once known as a northern form of Aestivalis, is more promising horticulturally for the North than the true Aestivalis of the Southeast.

VITIS AESTIVALIS LINCECUMII[145] Munson.

1. (?) Rafinesque, 1830:9. V. Multiloba; Dissected vine. 2. (?) Prince, 1830:183. V. diversifolia. 3. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt., 1847:199. Post oak grape. 4. Buckley, Ib., 1861:485. V. Linsecomii; Post-oak grape; Pine-wood grape. 5. Ib., Proc. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1861:450. V. Linsecomii. 6. Engelmann, Mo. Ent. Rpt., 1874:74. 7. Ib., Bush. Cat., 1883:16, 23. Post-oak grape. 8. Munson, Am. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1885:135. V. Lincecumii; Post-oak. 9. Planchon, De Candolle’s Mon. Phan. 5:323, 338. 1887. V. Lincecumii; Post-oak grape; Vine Wood grape; V. aestivalis, var. Lincecumii; V. incisifolia; V. multiloba? 10. Munson, U. S. D. A. Pom. Bul., 3:12. 1890. V. Lincecumii. 11. Ib., Gar. and For., 3:474. 1890. V. Lincecumii. 12. Ib., Am. Gard., 12:585. 1891. V. Lincecumii; Post-oak grape. 13. Ib., Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1893:116. V. Lincecumii; Post Oak grape. 14. McCluer, Ill. Sta. Bul., 28:257. 1893. V. Lincecumii; Post-oak grape. 15. Munson, Bush. Cat., 1894:20, 22, 27. fig. V. Lincecumii; Texas Post-oak grape. 16. Husmann, 1895:110. V. Lincecumii; Summer grape; Post Oak grape. 17. Munson, Rural N. Y., 56:610. 1897. V. Lincecumii; Post-oak grape. 18. Mo. Sta. Bul., 46:62. 1899. V. Lincecumii; Texas Post Oak grape. 19. Munson, Tex. Sta. Bul., 56:218, 231, 234, 235, 240, 261, 264. 1900. fig. V. Lincecumii; Post-oak grape. 20. Bailey, Cyc. Am. Hort., 4:1954. 1902. V. diversifolia; Post-oak; Pine-wood; Turkey grape. 21. Viala and Ravaz, Am. Vines, 1903:42, 57. V. Lincecumii; Post Oak.

Vine vigorous, sometimes climbing high upon trees, sometimes forming a bushy clump from two to six feet high; canes cylindrical, much rusty wool on shoots; tendrils intermittent. Leaves very large, almost as wide as long; entire or three-, five-, or rarely seven-lobed; lobes frequently divided; sinuses, including petiolar sinus, deep; smooth above, and with more or less rusty pubescence below. (The north-Texas, southwestern Missouri and northern Arkansas form shows little or no pubescence but has fine prickly spines at base of shoots and shows much blue bloom on shoots, canes and the under side of the leaves.) Fruit small to large, usually larger than typical Aestivalis, usually black with heavy bloom. Seeds larger than Aestivalis, pear-shaped; chalaza roundish.

Lincecumii seems to have been first described by Rafinesque, in 1830 under the name Vitis multiloba. His description fits fairly well, and as the source from which the vines were secured is within the habitat of the species, there appears but little doubt as to its correctness. In the same year Prince gives a very brief description of a grape from Texas under the name Vitis diversifolia which is probably this grape. The first description of the variety (or species) in such detail that it could not be mistaken was that of Buckley in 1861, as Vitis linsecomii.