Vitis vinifera

Vine

The grapevine (Vitis vinifera ) is a species in the genus Vitis. Today, it is mainly native to the Mediterranean, Central Europe and Southwest Asia. The subspecies Noble grapevine (Vitis vinifera subsp. Vinifera ) is used for the production of wine.

Features

The vine is a climbing shrub with sprout tendrils and can be 10 to 20 m high. It has a deep, rich branched rootstock and a woody stem with up to 1.5 m circumference. Your brown skin peels off in longitudinal strips. The red-brown to brown- yellow colored branches are mostly bare and rarely covered by a felt-like hairs. They have fine furrows and small, point-like bark pores. There are only 2 thin-skinned and light-brown bud scales available.

The roundish - heart-shaped leaves are usually much 3 to 5 -lobed and the petiole narrowly emarginate. They measure 5-15 cm in diameter, its share is heart-shaped and their lobes are coarsely toothed and cover even partially. The top of the leaves is glabrous, the lower surface hairy white wool to almost tomentose. Most leaves are offset by a tendril. The length of the petiole is 4-10 cm.

The slightly fragrant flowers are arranged in composite, dense panicles, the Gescheinen or inflorescences ( inflorescence ). The calyx is short, 5 -lobed. The petals are about 5 mm long, yellow-green and fall, like the sepals, early on. Bloom time is from June to August.

The oblong to spherical pods are 6-20 mm long and dark blue, violet, colored green or yellowish. They are frosted in part. Their taste is sweet or sour. There are always 3 or 4 seeds available. These are hard-shelled, pear-shaped and covered on one side with two elongated grooves or pits.

Location and distribution

The vine is scattered in front of riparian forests in the plains and the hills. The soils are usually dry or slightly moist.

The area includes the Mediterranean region, central France, the south-western Switzerland, the Upper Rhine Plain, the river basins of the Danube and Neckar, and the southern Russia and Asia Minor.

Subspecies

The subspecies Wild vine (Vitis vinifera ssp. Sylvestris) and noble vine are known (Vitis vinifera ssp. Vinifera ).

Documents

• Gunter Steinbach (ed.): shrub shrubs, Steinbach nature guide, Mosaik Verlag GmbH, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-576-10560-3