Vitis belaii
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit, Leaves
The fruit is on the small side but easy to harvest as it grows in bunches, and has a very pleasant flavour when fully ripe. It can be eaten raw or dried for winter use. Young leaves can be wrapped around other foods and baked, where they impart a pleasant flavour. Young tendrils can be eaten raw or cooked.
Dangerous Lookalikes
This plant can be confused with the following toxic species. Always verify identification carefully before consuming any wild plant.
Canadian Moonseed: No tendrils, single crescent/moon-shaped seed, leaf stem attaches to underside of leaf.
Vitis belaii: Vine with tendrils, round seeds, leaf stem at edge of leaf, bark that peels.
Where to Find It
It is a temperate plant.
How to Identify
A frost-tender deciduous climber with hermaphroditic flowers appearing June to July and seeds maturing September to October. Grows in light sandy, medium loamy, or heavy clay soils with good drainage. Tolerates mildly acidic, neutral, and mildly alkaline pH. Adapts to semi-shade or full sun and handles both dry and moist soil conditions.
How to Grow
Propagation: Seed is best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe. Six weeks of cold stratification improves germination, so stored seed should also be sown in a cold frame as soon as it is obtained. Germination usually occurs in the first spring but can take another 12 months. Prick out seedlings into individual pots when large enough to handle and grow on in a cold frame through their first winter, then plant out in early summer. Cuttings of mature wood from the current season's growth can be taken in December or January and rooted in a frame. These can be 15–30cm long, or short sections about 5cm long with a single bud at the top. For the shorter sections, remove a thin, narrow strip of bark about 3cm long from the lower portion of one side to encourage callusing and root formation; these shorter cuttings require a more sheltered environment than longer ones. Layering is also an option.
Medicinal Uses
None known
Other Uses
A yellow dye is obtained from the fresh or dried leaves.
Wikipedia
A frost-tender deciduous climber with hermaphroditic flowers appearing June to July and seeds maturing September to October. Grows in light sandy, medium loamy, or heavy clay soils with good drainage. Tolerates mildly acidic, neutral, and mildly alkaline pH. Adapts to semi-shade or full sun and handles both dry and moist soil conditions.
Notes
There are 60 to 70 species of Vitis. Not in The Plant List but several on Internet. (It may be an Indian selection of grape.
References (1)
- Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
