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Vitis rotundifolia

Common name:	Muscadine Grape	Family:	Vitaceae
Author:	Michx.	Botanical references:	11, 43, 200
Synonyms:	Vitis vulpina (Torr. ex A.Gray. non L.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	South-eastern N. America - Delaware to Indiana and Kansas, south to Florida, Texas and Mexico.
Habitat:	Woods, thickets, sandhills and shores[43].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	V. cordifolia[B,G,,P] V. cordifolia var. foetida[B,P] V. cordifolia var. sempervirens[B,P] V. illex[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Bullace [L], Frost Grape [P,B,L], Muscadine [P,L,B], Muscadine Grape [DEN2], River-bank Grape [L], Southern Fox Grape [L],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	rotundifolia = round leaved
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Rhamnales. Grape family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Us(Amerindian)

Physical Characteristics

A decidious climber growing to 25m. It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from September to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Fruit Leaves.

Fruit - raw or dried for winter use[1, 2, 22, 46]. Thick-skinned[61] with a pleasant musky flavour[11, 200, 219]. Pleasant to eat raw, the fruit is excellent in jellies, pies etc[183]. The fruit is up to 25mm in diameter[200] and is produced in small bunches[235].
Leaves - cooked[55]. Young leaves are wrapped around other foods and then baked, they impart a pleasant flavour.
Young tendrils - raw or cooked[55, 85].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Dye.

A yellow dye is obtained from the fresh or dried leaves[168].

Cultivation details

Prefers a deep rich moist well-drained moderately fertile loam[1, 200]. Grows best in a calcareous soil[200]. Succeeds in sun or partial shade though a warm sunny position is required for the fruit to ripen[200]. Prefers a position in full sun[160]
Plants climb by means of tendrils[182]. They grow particularly well up elm trees[18].
Cultivated for its edible fruit in N. America[46, 61], there are some named varieties[183]. Most plants are self-fertile[160], but there are some cultivars that only produce female flowers and require pollination[183].
Any pruning should be carried out in winter when the plants are dormant otherwise they bleed profusely[182, 200].
Resistant to Phylloxera disease, a disease that almost destroyed the European grape crops. This species can be used as a rootstock in areas where the disease is prevalent and can also be used in breeding programmes with V. vinifera in order to impart resistance to that species[160]. Plants are , however, susceptible to infestation by aphis[160].
Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus[200].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe[K]. Six weeks cold stratification improves the germination rate, and so stored seed is best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is obtained. Germination should take place in the first spring, but sometimes takes another 12 months. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter. Plant out in early summer.
Cuttings of mature wood of the current seasons growth, December/January in a frame. These cuttings can be of wood 15 - 30cm long or they can be of short sections of the stem about 5cm long with just one bud at the top of the section. In this case a thin, narrow strip of the bark about 3cm long is removed from the bottom half of the side of the stem. This will encourage callusing and the formation of roots. Due to the size of these cuttings they need to be kept in a more protected environment than the longer cuttings.
Layering.

Cultivars

'Hunt': A medium to large fruit, the skin is medium, dull-black with abundant pigment and is prized by manufacturers of wine and frozen pulp[183]. The fruit quality is excellent, it ripens early in large clusters[183]. The fruit is very even in ripening, which is unusual in this genus[183]. One of the best all-purpose cultivars, excellent for wines, unfermented juices, jellies etc[183]. A female cultivar, it requires pollination from a non-female cultivar[183].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.

References for Vitis vulpina (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for the family Vitaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[18] Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. Companion Plants. Watkins 1979
Details of beneficial and antagonistic relationships between neighbouring plants.

[22] Sholto-Douglas. J. Alternative Foods.
Not very comprehensive, it seems more or less like a copy of earlier writings with little added.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[55] Harris. B. C. Eat the Weeds. Pivot Health 1973
Interesting reading.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

[160] Natural Food Institute, Wonder Crops. 1987.
Fascinating reading, this is an annual publication. Some reports do seem somewhat exaggerated though.

[168] Grae. I. Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. 1974 ISBN 0-02-544950-8
A very good and readable book on dyeing.

[182] Thomas. G. S. Ornamental Shrubs, Climbers and Bamboos. Murray 1992 ISBN 0-7195-5043-2
Contains a wide range of plants with a brief description, mainly of their ornamental value but also usually of cultivation details and varieties.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[219] Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. Gardening on Walls Collins 1983 ISBN 0-00-219220-0
A nice little book about plants for growing against walls and a small section on plants that can grow in walls.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

Readers Comments

Plant Passporting

Rich (michael@thewitchshaven.com) Wed Sep 26 16:58:15 2001

This information has been taken from DEFRA Guide to Plant Passporting. Which places restrictions on plants which can be traded in the UK and the EU mainly because they are carriers for pests and diseases.

Beta vulgaris (Beet), Chaenomeles (Ornamental quince, Japonica), Citrus (Orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, etc.), Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster), Crataegus (Hawthorn), Cydonia (Quince), Eriobotrya (Includes loquat), Fortunella and hybrids (Kumquat), Humulus lupulus (Hop (including ornamentals)), Malus (Apple (including ornamentals)), Mespilus (Medlar), Poncirus and hybrids (Ornamental citrus), Prunus (other than Prunus laurocerasus and Prunus lusitanica) (Includes almond, apricot, cherry, damson, greengage, nectarine, peach, plum, sloe and ornamental/flowering varieties), Pyracantha (Firethorn), Pyrus (Pear (including ornamentals)), Solanum (stolon or tuber forming types) (Potato), Sorbus (other than Sorbus intermedia) (Includes rowan and whitebeam), Stranvaesia (Stranvaesia), Vitis (Grape, includes grape vine and ornamental grape).

Many other plants require pasporting for commercial growers, these include Abies, Allium ascalonicum, Allium cepa, Allium porrum, Allium schoenoprasum, Apium graveolens, Plants of the family Araceae, Argyranthemum, Aster, Brassica, Castanea, Capsicum annuum, Cucumis, Dendranthema, Dianthus and hybrids, Euphorbia, Exacum, Fragaria, Gerbera, Gypsophila, Helianthus annuus, Impatiens (all varieties of New Guinea hybrids), Lactuca, Larix, Leucanthemum, Lupinus, Lycopersicon lycopersicum, Plants of the family Marantaceae, Medicago sativa, Plants of the family Musaceae, Nicotiana, Pelargonium, Persea, Phaseolus, Picea, Pinus, Platanus, Populus, Prunus laurocerasus and Prunus lusitanica, Pseudotsuga, Quercus, Rubus, Plants of the family Solanaceae (other than plants of stolon or tuber forming species of Solanum and their hybrids), Solanum melongena, Spinacia, Plants of the family Strelitziaceae, Tanacetum, Tsuga, Verbena.

Cross references: Plants: Beta vulgaris, Humulus lupulus. Genera: Chaenomeles, Citrus, Cotoneaster, Crataegus, Cydonia, Eriobotrya, Fortunella, Malus, Mespilus, Poncirus, Prunus, Pyracantha, Pyrus, Solanum, Sorbus, Stranvaesia, Vitis.

Ground cover plants.

Erik Johnson (e-johnson1@northwestern.edu) Sat Sep 29 05:04:44 2001

Unfortunately, USDA zones aren't useful except for perhaps determining maximum cold resistence (all they measure are miniumum temps). Britain is smack dab in front of the Gulf Stream, so has warm winters. However it is very far north, so has long winters and cool summers. USDA zones 8 and 9 in the US are perhaps equivalent to Europe in the maritime Pacific Northwest and northern California, but not in the Southeast US.

270 frost free days leaves about 95 with frost. # Frost-free days is somewhat useful for annuals but little else. Temperate perennials/trees need winter chilling (hours between 32 and 45 Fahrenheit). I guarrantee that NW FL (USDA zone 8) does not have 95 days of potential frost (& presumptively "chill"). It usually has only 400 (or less) chilling hours, and only about 3-7 days (nights?) of frost. Temps get down to low 20s F (in some cases 15 F), but these killing frosts occur unpredictably, scattered amoungst 60/70 Fahrenheit days from late December to late February. W. European weather is probably more regular. Spain and Italy can raise both subtropical crops (citrus, banana passionfruit)--lack of killing frosts--and European plums/apples/hazels/etc--prolonged winter chill. Neither group is reliable in the Deep South of the US indeed, native species (mayhaw, rabbiteye blueberry, scuppernong) and a small number of exotics from Asia (kaki) and Uruguay (feijoa, jelly palm) are the only ones to thrive. And if the Limeys saw wild scuppernongs--120_ ft woody lianas with aerial roots (Bartram's "flying buttresses of the live oak forest"), I don't think they'd recommend planting vines, let alone grapes, at "woodland edges." Kinda hard to harvest and control.

I have a hard time taking gardening advice/books from Europe and West Coast USA seriously. Unfortunately most authors come from such areas, so the rest of us waste alot of money planting things and watching them die, in order to find the tiny percentage that work. Some of the species that "work" become weeds--witness Kudzu, which swallowed Georgia after FDR's bureaucrats decided it would be good for errosion control.

Anyone have scuppernong (Vitis rotundifolia) recipes?

Details of Growing Condition: Northern Gulf (of Mexico) coast, USA. Conditions as described above, but additionally: 15-60 inches of rain (usually 40), extremely acid, sandy, poor soil, very hot (from May to October) and humid (year round)..

Cross references: Web-pages: Ground cover plants., Woodland Garden Plants.

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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