The Muscadine Grape (Vitis rotundifolia Michx)

The muscadine grape is native to the southeastern United States and was the first native grape species to be cultivated in North America. The natural range of muscadine grapes extends from Delaware to central Florida and occurs in all states along the Gulf Coast to east Texas. It also extends north...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Peter C. Andersen, Ali Sarkhosh, Dustin Huff, Jacque Breman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries 2020-11-01
Series:EDIS
Online Access:https://journals.flvc.org/edis/article/view/123942
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1825198305219444736
author Peter C. Andersen
Ali Sarkhosh
Dustin Huff
Jacque Breman
author_facet Peter C. Andersen
Ali Sarkhosh
Dustin Huff
Jacque Breman
author_sort Peter C. Andersen
collection DOAJ
description The muscadine grape is native to the southeastern United States and was the first native grape species to be cultivated in North America. The natural range of muscadine grapes extends from Delaware to central Florida and occurs in all states along the Gulf Coast to east Texas. It also extends northward along the Mississippi River to Missouri. Muscadine grapes will perform well throughout Florida, although performance is poor in calcareous soils or in soils with very poor drainage. Most scientists divide the Vitis genus into two subgenera: Euvitis (the European, Vitis vinifera L. grapes and the American bunch grapes, Vitis labrusca L.) and the Muscadania grapes (muscadine grapes). There are three species within the Muscadania subgenera (Vitis munsoniana, Vitis popenoei and Vitis rotundifolia). Euvitis and Muscadania have somatic chromosome numbers of 38 and 40, respectively. Vines do best in deep, fertile soils, and they can often be found in beside river beds.  Wild muscadine grapes are functionally dioecious due to incomplete stamen formation in female vines and incomplete pistil formation in male vines. Male vines account for the majority of the wild muscadine grape population. Muscadine grapes are late in breaking bud in the spring and require 100-120 days to mature fruit. Typically, muscadine grapes in the wild bear dark fruit with usually 4 to 10 fruit per cluster. Bronze-fruited muscadine grapes are also found in the wild, and they are often referred to as scuppernongs. There are hundreds of named muscadine grape cultivars from improved selections, and in fact, one that has been found in the Scuppernong river of North Carolina has been named Scuppernong. There are over 100 improved cultivars of muscadine grapes that vary in size from 1/4 to 1 ½ inches in diameter and 4 to 15 grams in weight. Skin color ranges from light bronze to pink to purple to black. Flesh is clear and translucent for all muscadine grape berries. Originally published 1994 by Peter C. Anderson and Timothy E. Crocker. Published on EDIS June 2003. Revised November 2010, October 2013, January 2017. This revision with Sarkhosh and Huff.
format Article
id doaj-art-a69d03e368654d44a6ba2c4ca8afca85
institution Kabale University
issn 2576-0009
language English
publishDate 2020-11-01
publisher The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries
record_format Article
series EDIS
spelling doaj-art-a69d03e368654d44a6ba2c4ca8afca852025-02-08T05:47:09ZengThe University of Florida George A. Smathers LibrariesEDIS2576-00092020-11-0120206The Muscadine Grape (Vitis rotundifolia Michx)Peter C. Andersen0Ali Sarkhosh1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5649-1150Dustin Huff2Jacque Breman3University of FloridaUniversity of FloridaUniversity of FloridaUF The muscadine grape is native to the southeastern United States and was the first native grape species to be cultivated in North America. The natural range of muscadine grapes extends from Delaware to central Florida and occurs in all states along the Gulf Coast to east Texas. It also extends northward along the Mississippi River to Missouri. Muscadine grapes will perform well throughout Florida, although performance is poor in calcareous soils or in soils with very poor drainage. Most scientists divide the Vitis genus into two subgenera: Euvitis (the European, Vitis vinifera L. grapes and the American bunch grapes, Vitis labrusca L.) and the Muscadania grapes (muscadine grapes). There are three species within the Muscadania subgenera (Vitis munsoniana, Vitis popenoei and Vitis rotundifolia). Euvitis and Muscadania have somatic chromosome numbers of 38 and 40, respectively. Vines do best in deep, fertile soils, and they can often be found in beside river beds.  Wild muscadine grapes are functionally dioecious due to incomplete stamen formation in female vines and incomplete pistil formation in male vines. Male vines account for the majority of the wild muscadine grape population. Muscadine grapes are late in breaking bud in the spring and require 100-120 days to mature fruit. Typically, muscadine grapes in the wild bear dark fruit with usually 4 to 10 fruit per cluster. Bronze-fruited muscadine grapes are also found in the wild, and they are often referred to as scuppernongs. There are hundreds of named muscadine grape cultivars from improved selections, and in fact, one that has been found in the Scuppernong river of North Carolina has been named Scuppernong. There are over 100 improved cultivars of muscadine grapes that vary in size from 1/4 to 1 ½ inches in diameter and 4 to 15 grams in weight. Skin color ranges from light bronze to pink to purple to black. Flesh is clear and translucent for all muscadine grape berries. Originally published 1994 by Peter C. Anderson and Timothy E. Crocker. Published on EDIS June 2003. Revised November 2010, October 2013, January 2017. This revision with Sarkhosh and Huff. https://journals.flvc.org/edis/article/view/123942
spellingShingle Peter C. Andersen
Ali Sarkhosh
Dustin Huff
Jacque Breman
The Muscadine Grape (Vitis rotundifolia Michx)
EDIS
title The Muscadine Grape (Vitis rotundifolia Michx)
title_full The Muscadine Grape (Vitis rotundifolia Michx)
title_fullStr The Muscadine Grape (Vitis rotundifolia Michx)
title_full_unstemmed The Muscadine Grape (Vitis rotundifolia Michx)
title_short The Muscadine Grape (Vitis rotundifolia Michx)
title_sort muscadine grape vitis rotundifolia michx
url https://journals.flvc.org/edis/article/view/123942
work_keys_str_mv AT petercandersen themuscadinegrapevitisrotundifoliamichx
AT alisarkhosh themuscadinegrapevitisrotundifoliamichx
AT dustinhuff themuscadinegrapevitisrotundifoliamichx
AT jacquebreman themuscadinegrapevitisrotundifoliamichx
AT petercandersen muscadinegrapevitisrotundifoliamichx
AT alisarkhosh muscadinegrapevitisrotundifoliamichx
AT dustinhuff muscadinegrapevitisrotundifoliamichx
AT jacquebreman muscadinegrapevitisrotundifoliamichx