Vitis labrusca L.

Horticultural & Botanical History

Introduced to Europe in 1656.  [PD].  A parent of most cultivated American grapes [Hilliers’, Don].  ‘Vitis labrusca, Linn. The specific name, Labrusca, is the ancient Latin one for a wild vine.  This species, the well known Wild, or Fox Grape, extends from Canada to the Gulf, but is rarely found in the Valley of the Mississippi.  It is common in moist woods or thickets, and sometimes reaches the tops of the highest trees.  The leaves are large and thick, often entire, and coated on the underside with a thick, whitish, or rusty wool; berries large, dark-purple, or amber-colored, with a tough pulp and a strong, “foxy,” or musky odor; the most common grape of the Northern woods, and presents a great variety in the wild state; has given rise to an important series of table grapes, of which the best known are the Concord, and several useful hybrids.’  [Husmann – American Grape Growing and Wine Making p.13/1883].

History at Camden Park

Listed in the 1845, 1850 and 1857 catalogues [T.1002/1845].

Notes

Vitis labrusca Thunb. (1784) = Vitis coignetiae Pulliat ex Planch.

Vitis labrusca Scop. = Vitis vinifera L.

Vitis labrusca Lour. (1790) = Vitis triloba Roth.

Vitis labrusca Walter (1788) = Vitis aestivalis Michx.