natural herbs
Summer Grape
Vitis aestivalis argentifolia

Herb: Summer Grape

Latin name: Vitis aestivalis argentifolia

Synonyms: Vitis argentifolia, Vitis bicolor, Vitis lecontiana

Family: Vitaceae (Grape Family)

Edible parts of Summer Grape:

Fruit - raw, cooked in jellies, jams, pies etc or dried for later use. Sweet and agreeably flavoured. The taste is best after a frost.The dried fruits are eaten as snacks or used in baked goods. The fruit is about 8mm in diameter. Leaves - cooked. Young leaves are wrapped around other foods and then baked, they impart a pleasant flavour. A sweet watery sap is obtained from the stem. Used as a refreshing drink. Young tendrils - raw or cooked.

Description of the plant:

Plant:

Deciduous
Climber

Height:

25 m
(82 feet)

Flowering:

June
to July

Scent:

Scented
Climber

Habitat of the herb:

Dry woods and thickets.

Other uses of Summer Grape:

A yellow dye is obtained from the fresh or dried leaves.

Propagation of the herb:

Seed - best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe. Six weeks cold stratification improves the germination rate, and so stored seed is best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is obtained. Germination should take place in the first spring, but sometimes takes another 12 months. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter. Plant out in early summer. Cuttings of mature wood of the current seasons growth, December/January in a frame. These cuttings can be of wood 15 - 30cm long or they can be of short sections of the stem about 5cm long with just one bud at the top of the section. In this case a thin, narrow strip of the bark about 3cm long is removed from the bottom half of the side of the stem. This will encourage callusing and the formation of roots. Due to the size of these cuttings they need to be kept in a more protected environment than the longer cuttings. Layering.

Cultivation of Summer Grape: