Synonyms

The following names are used for this species in botanical literature: Vitis pagnuccii Romanet du Caillaud, Vitis iboukyama Caplat.

Distribution and Ecology

The species Vitis pagnuccii was isolated from plant shipments sent by Abbé Armand David and Bishop Pagnucci, and described by Romanet du Caillaud in 1884. It originates from the Shaanxi province in China, where it grows on the southern slope of the Qinling mountain range at an altitude of 1300 to 1400 meters above sea level.
When cultivated in ampelographic collections in France, this species showed weak vigor, similar to the species Vitis davidii. Its main interest lies in the unique morphological feature of its leaves, which are divided into lobes like representatives of the genus Ampelopsis and demonstrate sharp variability within the same shoot. The grapevine researcher J. E. Planchon was initially inclined to merge this species with Vitis thunbergii, but subsequent studies proved that Vitis pagnuccii significantly differs from it.

Botanical Description

  • Bush: Weakly vigorous, with a creeping growth habit. The trunk is slender, and the bark is tightly adherent, separating in fine longitudinal strips.
  • Shoots: Slender, straight, small, with short internodes and fine longitudinal furrows. Nodes are distinctly pronounced and flattened. On the herbaceous tips of the shoots, there is a sparse cobwebby pubescence. Tendrils are intermittent, slender, and forked. Young flower clusters are enveloped in a loose, whitish, cobwebby down.
  • Leaves: Medium-sized, longer than wide, almost circular in shape. The leaf blade is rather thick, flat, with strong veins that are clearly visible on the underside. The veins bear sparse white cobwebby hairs, which have a slightly rusty tint on young leaves. The upper side of the leaf is hairless, bright green, and shiny; the underside is lighter and matte. The teeth are two-rowed, well-defined, serrated, pointing toward the apex, but shallow. The petiole sinus is T-shaped, quite deep, and well open. A characteristic feature is the constant polymorphism of the lobes on all shoots: the basal (lower) leaves are often regular and entire, without indicated lobes; higher up the shoot, three-lobed leaves occur with more or less deep and slightly open upper side sinuses; these are followed by leaves with three distinct lobes resembling three separate leaflets, where the upper side sinuses reach the central vein (with the vein bordered by a narrow strip of tissue for 3–4 cm closer to the petiole); sometimes only one side sinus is thus deeply cut, while the corresponding opposite sinus is barely indicated. The apical leaves are most often entirely trifoliolate, sometimes trifid with more or less pronounced lower side sinuses, and extremely rarely five-foliolate. In trifoliolate leaves, the terminal lobe is ovate, ending in an elongated sharp tip; the lower leaflets span two main veins each. The margins of the sinuses are completely devoid of teeth throughout their length. The petiole is short and slender.
  • Fruit and Clusters: The cluster is small, cylindrical in shape. The berries are small, spherical, purple-black in color, and covered with a glaucous bloom.
  • Seeds: The seeds of this species remained unknown to the authors of the original description.