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VITIS ROTUNDIFOLIA MICHX. - Muscadine Grape, Muscadine |
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Other Common Names: Bullace, Scuppernong, Southern Fox Grape
Related Species: Summer grape (Vitis aestivalis), California Grape (V. californica), American Grape, Fox Grape (V. labrusca), River Bank Grape (V. riparia), Sand Grape (V. rupestris), European Grape (V. vinifera).
Origin: The muscadine grape is native to the southeastern United States, found in the wild from Delaware to the Gulf of Mexico and westward to Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Many older varieties were selections from the wild, but the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture have introduced a number of improved varieties that have become standard cultivars. The earliest named variety was Scuppernong, found growing wild in northeastern North Caroline in 1810 by Dr. Calvin Jones. Scuppernong has become another name for all muscadine grapes. Commercial production of muscadine grapes is essentially limited to the U.S. Southeast.
Adaptation: Muscadines are well adapted to the warm, humid conditions of the southeastern U.S., where the American and the European grape do not prosper. Its lack of frost hardiness also limits it to this same region, except for some West Coast locations. The plant may be injured by minimum winter temperatures of 0 degrees F, and should not be grown in regions where temperatures frequently go below 10 degrees F. Muscadines can be grown in California and adjacent areas, but are not as well adapted as other cultivated grapes. In coastal areas of the West the lack of sufficient summer heat produces berries that tend to be small and generally lacking in sugar. The vines also do not fare well in the low humidity of many interior sections. On the other hand muscadines perform satisfactorily in the warmer grape growing regions of California, Oregon and Washington.
DESCRIPTION
Growth Habits: Muscadines are vigorous, deciduous vines growing 60-100 ft. in the wild. Botanically, they differ in significant ways from other grapes and are placed in a separate sub-genus, Muscadinia. In contrast to most other grapes, muscadines have a tight, non-shedding bark, warty shoots and unbranched tendrils.
Foliage: The slightly lobed, 2-1/2 to 5 inch leaves are rounded to broadly ovate with coarsely serrate edges and an acuminate point. Dark green above and green tinged yellow beneath, the leaves are glossy on both sides, becoming firm and subglabrous at maturity.
Flowers: Muscadines are dioecious, with male and female flowers on different plants. The small, greenish flowers are borne in short, dense panicles. It appears that both wind and insects play a role in the pollination of the female flowers. Breeding and selection have produced self-fertile varieties with near-perfect flowers, which also serve as a pollen sources for the female plants. For best results a perfect-flowered vine should be within 25 ft. of female vines, or every third vine when planted in a mixed single row. Muscadines do not readily hybridize with other grape species.
Fruit: The fruit is borne in small, loose clusters of 3-40 grapes, quite unlike the large, tight bunches characteristic of European and American grapes. The round, 1 to 1-1/2 inch fruits have a thick, tough skin and contain up to 5 hard, oblong seeds. In color the fruits range from greenish bronze through bronze, pinkish red, purple and almost black. Sugar content varies from about 16% to 25% for the sweetest cultivars. The wild fruits and some older cultivars have a musky quality similar to American grapes, although not as pronounced. Modern cultivars have a unique fruity flavor with very little muskiness. The flavor and appearance of the dark colored muscadine fruits are remarkably similar to the jaboticaba.
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