July

Description

Vitis rupestris is a species of grape native to the United States that is known by many common names including July, Coon, sand, sugar, beach, bush, currant, ingar, rock, and mountain grape. It is used for breeding several French-American hybrids as well as many root stocks. The natural distribution of Vitis rupestris is concentrated in the Ozark Hills of Missouri and Arkansas. The species is less common in scattered populations east as far as Pennsylvania and southwest into Oklahoma and Texas. There are a few reports of the species occurring in the San Francisco Bay area of California, but these are most likely escapes from cultivation. Vitis rupestris is a self-supporting bushy plant that does not grow in the shade, and is found only on rocky riverbanks and streambanks. Much of its habitat has been destroyed due to damming of rivers and destruction of islands for navigation. Vitis rupestris has been listed as threatened or endangered by Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Known locations of wild Vitis rupestris are quickly disappearing, which may threaten the future of this grape species. It is found hybridized in parts of its range with the Riverbank grape and other Vitis species. Growth is tapering, erect, much branched and rarely climbing more than 4 to 8 feet. The roots are slender, wiry and deep and enable it to resist drought by spreading deep underground to find the water table. Wood is smooth and red when young, becoming cylindrical and finely striated when mature with dark colored bark that becomes darker with age. Wood is quite persistent with age and dense but not hard. Buds are small, globose or slightly conical. Tendrils are small and crimson colored with short internodes. Leaves are lanceolate with large stipules with crimson veins. Petiole are deeply and broadly grooved throughout the length. Leaves are distinctly striated and nearly always smooth. Width of the leaves is usually 3" to 4", sometimes 5". Clusters are very small, sometimes shouldered. Rachis is smooth and light green. Flowers are fertile, stamens recurved and bent laterally with flowers producing abundant pollen. Fruits are 1/4" to 1/2" in diameter, round or slightly flattened around the stem and often doubled like two berries coalesced.