Maple-Leaf grape facts for kids

Vitis acerifolia is a special type of grape plant. It grows naturally in the south-central part of the Great Plains in the United States. You can find it in states like Kansas, Oklahoma, northern Texas, eastern Colorado, and northeastern New Mexico. Its name, Vitis acerifolia, comes from Latin and means maple-leaf grape. This is because its leaves look a lot like maple leaves! Sometimes, people also call it Vitis longii.

A Grape That Loves Cold Weather

Vitis acerifolia is one of the toughest grapes when it comes to cold weather. Only one other grape, Vitis riparia, can handle colder temperatures better. What makes it special is how it deals with sudden changes in winter weather.

Most cold-hardy grapes can be tricked by a warm spell in winter. They might start growing too early, then get damaged by a sudden frost. But Vitis acerifolia is smarter! It can keep growing late into the fall if the weather is nice. Then, if it suddenly gets cold, it can quickly prepare itself for winter. This makes it perfect for places with unpredictable winter weather, like North America.

Amazing Benefits for New Grapes

Besides being super tough in the cold, Vitis acerifolia has many other great qualities. These qualities are very useful for creating new types of hybrid grapes.

• Drought Resistant: It can handle very dry conditions without much water.
• Resistant to Pests: It fights off tiny insects called phylloxera that can harm grapevines.
• Easy to Grow: It's simple to grow new plants from its cuttings.
• Healthy Seeds: All its seeds tend to sprout at the same time.
• Disease Fighter: It has a strong natural defense against many common grape diseases.

Even though its berries and grape bunches are usually small and have many seeds, Vitis acerifolia grapes taste good. They don't have the strong, sometimes strange, flavors found in many other North American grapes. For example, they don't have the "foxy" taste of Vitis labrusca or the herbal taste of Vitis riparia. They also don't taste like blackcurrants or have a harsh peppery flavor.

Another cool thing about this grape is its low acidity and how early it ripens. These features are very helpful for people who breed new grape varieties.

Grapes for Colorful Juice

Vitis acerifolia also makes juice with a very strong, deep color. This trait has been passed on to other grape varieties, like the Canadian 'Vincent' grape. These grapes can have up to twelve times more color than other grapes used for the same purpose!

When making red wine, the juice ferments with the grape skins. This is where some "off" flavors can come from in hybrid wines. It's hard to create cold-hardy red wine grapes that also taste great. It's even harder to find grapes that can add strong color to lighter-colored juices. But new grapes made with Vitis acerifolia show a lot of promise in this area. They can help make beautiful, richly colored red wines.

How it Avoids Pierce's Disease

There's a serious grape disease called Pierce's disease. It's very dangerous for grapes in the southern U.S. and Central America. Vitis acerifolia doesn't naturally fight off this disease from the inside. However, it rarely gets sick from it!

This is because of a clever trick. The disease is spread by an insect called the glassy-winged sharpshooter (Homalodisca vitripennis). This insect almost never eats Vitis acerifolia plants. Why? Because the leaves of Vitis acerifolia are covered in tiny hairs, which is called pubescence. These hairs seem to annoy or repel the sharpshooter, keeping it away from the plant. So, even without a built-in defense, the plant stays safe!