Perennial woody vine to 15.2 m long

Stem: high-climbing, angular, green with dense white hairs when young, becoming grayish-brown and striped with white patches of hairs, finally reddish brown and shredded in thin long strips on very old growth. The inner spongy part of the stem (pith) is chambered at the nodes.

Leaves: alternate, hairy-stalked, 10 - 20 cm long, nearly rounded to broadly egg-shaped or heart-shaped with a pointed tip, shallowly three-lobed or lobeless, irregularly toothed, thin, with ash gray cobwebby hair lightly covering upper surface and densely covering lower surface when young, becoming mostly smooth above but remaining hairy beneath.

Inflorescence: functionally either male or female and borne on the same plant (sub-monoecious), borne opposite the leaves on current year's growth (at no more than two successive nodes), 10 - 20 cm long, with red-tinged and wooly stalks.

Flowers: numerous, greenish, tiny, five-petaled. The functionally male flowers have five long, erect stamens and a poorly developed pistil. Functionally female flowers have a well-developed pistil and five functionless, short, reflexed stamens.

Fruit: a juicy berry borne in loose drooping clusters, nearly black, 4 - 6 mm across, spherical, tough-skinned, containing one to three reddish brown seeds about 3 mm long.

Tendrils: opposite the leaves, at no more than two successsive nodes.

Similar species: Vitis labrusca has tendrils or inflorescences at three or more successive nodes. Vitis riparia and Vitis vulpina are commonly lacking tendrils or inflorescences opposite every third leaf and the leaves become hairless except along the veins. Current season twigs of Vitis aestivalis are lightly hairy or hairless hairy after flowering and the lower leaf surface loses most of its hairs at maturity.

Flowering: May to July

Habitat and ecology: Rare in the Chicago Region, but sometimes found in low woods or thickets.

Occurence in the Chicago region: native

Notes: Birds and mammals eat the fruit of this species, while deer feed on the leaves. Catbirds and cardinals use strips of the bark to build their nests. The vines are commonly used in wreath-making.

Etymology: Vitis is the Latin word for vine. Cinerea means ash-colored, referring to the hairs on the leaves.

Author: The Morton Arboretum

This species is usually associated with Vitis aestivalis from which it was not formerly separated. It is more common in the southwestern counties and in rather sandy soil. Pepoon's report from Lake County should be referred to Vitis Labrusca. (Rhodora 35: 302. 1933.)