Vitis aestivalis Michx.

  • Authority

    Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

  • Family

    Vitaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Vitis aestivalis Michx.

  • Description

    Species Description - High-climbing vine, the pith interrupted by nodal diaphragms; twigs terete; tendrils or infls lacking opposite each 3rd lf; lvs broadly cordate-ovate to subrotund, with narrow (45°) to broad basal sinus, usually shallowly to deeply 3–5-lobed, when young covered with a reddish or rusty cobwebby tomentum on both sides, sometimes also with straight hairs on the veins, glaucous and persistently ± floccose-tomentose beneath; petioles and stems glabrous or sparsely pilose after disappearance of the tomentum; infl usually long (5–15 cm) and slender; fr dark purple or black, 5–10 mm; 2n=38. Moist or dry soil, open forests, roadsides, and thickets; Mass. to Ont. and s. Minn., s. to Ala. In var. aestivalis, occurring over most of the range of the sp., the persistent tomentum tends to obscure the glaucescence of the lower surface of the lvs. In var. argentifolia (Munson) Fernald (V. bicolor), occurring chiefly inland and in the n. part of the range, the tomentum is more completely deciduous, leaving the lower surface of the lf distinctly blue-green or silvery.

  • Common Names

    summer grape, pigeon-grape