Wetland Plants and Plant Communities of Minnesota and Wisconsin

RIVER-BANK GRAPE

(Vitis riparia Michx.)


River-bank grape

GRAPE FAMILY (Vitaceae)

IND. STATUS: FACW-

FIELD CHARACTERISTICS: A perennial, high-climbing woody vine. Mature bark is shredding and peeling. The stem pith is interrupted at the nodes by diaphragms up to 0.8 mm. thick; tendrils are present. The simple leaves are opposite, rotund, 10-20 cm., with usually 3 forward pointing lobes. Leaf margins are coarse and sharply serrated. Young leaf blades tend to be pubescent underneath. As they mature, the undersides become green and glabrous with tufts of pubescent hairs between the veins. Panicles are 5-10 cm. and support 6-12 mm. black fruits which have a waxy bloom (glaucous) at maturity.

ECOLOGICAL NOTES: River-bank grape is common in floodplain forests, wooded swamps, upland woods, shrub swamps, along riverbanks, fence rows, and on sandy shores and dunes.

SOURCE: Gleason and Cronquist (1991); Swink and Wilhelm (1994); and Voss (1985).


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