Summer grape

Scientific Name: – Vitis aestivalis

Vitis aestivalis (Summer Grape) is a species of grape native to eastern North America from southern Ontario east to Vermont, west to Oklahoma, and south to Florida and Texas. It is a vigorous vine, growing to 10 m or more high in trees. The leaves are 7äóń20 cm long, suborbicular, and usually a little broader than long; they are variable in shape, from unlobed to deeply three- or five-lobed, green above, and densely hairy below. The flowers are produced in a dense panicle 5äóń15 cm long. The fruit is a small grape 5äóń14 mm diameter, dark purple or black in color. It is the official state grape of Missouri. There are four varieties: Vitis aestivalis var. aestivalis. Vitis aestivalis var. bicolor Deam (syn. var. argentifolia Fernald; Silverleaf Grape), formerly called Vitis bicolor, but now considered a northern variation of Vitis aestivalis. Native range is in the Northeastern United States and parts of Southern Ontario. Vitis aestivalis var. lincecumii (Buckley) Munson. Vitis aestivalis var. bourquiniana, native to the south, sometimes called Vitis bourquiniana, has tomentose undersides to the leaves.