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| I'm not sure where to post this so if I'm in the wrong place please advise.. These are growing on a tall fence not far from me. Surrounding an old abandoned wearhouse. To me they looked like grape leaves so I did some reasurch online and they look like they are wild grapes. What do you think? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by rosegarden3 5 (My Page) on Sun, Sep 15, 13 at 17:26
| These are the tendrils. |
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- Posted by rosegarden3 5 (My Page) on Sun, Sep 15, 13 at 17:27
| The seeds. |
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| I'm no expert, but grapes would be my first guess as well. Do you have an Extension office nearby? They may be able to identify them for you. Take in a clipping of leaves (several on a stem), fruit, and maybe a photo of the larger plant. Good luck. Deanna |
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| I don't know where you are in Zone 5, so your wild grapes may be different than mine (and that sure is what they look like - no other vines around here resemble grapes). No wild Vitis sp. are poisonous from all the research I did a while back, but most of the ones I have growing up my trees and across my phone lines (despite my best efforts and a lot of chain sawing and lopping) are not edible. The wildlife love them, but they are not something I want to eat. I agree with Deanna - check with your local Agricultural Agent at the Extension office. |
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- Posted by theforgottenone1013 5b/6a MI (My Page) on Sun, Sep 15, 13 at 19:11
| All wild grapes are edible. The only plant that could resemble wild grapes in both form and fruit is Menispermum canadense aka Canadian Moonseed but that is definitely not what you have. Privet berries also look similar but obviously privet is a shrub, not a vine. Your grape is probably Vitis riparia aka Riverbank grape. It's one of the most common wild grapes. Rodney |
Here is a link that might be useful: Vitis riparia Images
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- Posted by rosegarden3 5 (My Page) on Sun, Sep 15, 13 at 20:45
| Thank you! I did more research and everything points to riverbank/wild grapes. I will check with my extension office and bring a piece in with me. |
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| Those are wild grapes. No doubt. They are edible but not much to eat. |
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| My DD likes them (thought I don't know if she'd eat a whole handful), but they make good jelly. I think those are the same we have though they're growing in our old apple orchard not by a river ;-) I combine the juice with the apple juice (usually simmer the fruits and put in the jelly bag together) to tone down the foxy taste a bit. |
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- Posted by theforgottenone1013 5b/6a MI (My Page) on Mon, Sep 16, 13 at 8:27
| ajsmama- If your grapes have a foxy/musky smell and taste then they are probably Fox grapes, Vitis labrusca. To be sure you could check the tendrils. Fox grapes usually have tendrils opposite every leaf, whereas other wild grapes don't. Concord is in this species, although it's bigger and not as foxy as it's wild cousins. Riverbank grapes, also called Frost grapes, don't have a foxy smell or taste but they are quite tart. The name Frost grapes refers to the fact that they are supposed to be sweeter after a frost. And they grow pretty much everywhere, not just next to riverbanks. As for it's tendrils, they will usually be opposite one or two leaves in a row and then skip a leaf. To add to the confusion, there is a wild grape called Frost grape, Vitis vulpina. And there is also a variety of wild grape called Summer grape, Vitis aestivalis. But I highly doubt the OP has one of these. Of course, this info really only applies to the Midwest. Once you start going south and elsewhere you run into different species and wild muscadines and such. Rodney |
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