Synonyms

  • Vitis thunbergii Sieb. et Zucc.
  • Vitis thunbergii var. yunnanensis Planchon
  • Vitis thunbergh Regel
  • Vitis sieboldii Hortulan
  • Vitis labrusca var. ficifolia Regel
  • Vitis labrusca var. sinuata Regel
  • Vitis labrusca Franchet et Savatier
  • Vitis bryoniæfolia Hance
  • Vitis flexuosa Hort. Burdigal
  • Vitis labrusca var. maximowiczii Herb. Martius
  • Vitis ficifolia Bunge
  • Vitis labrusca var. thunbergii Hort. Mus. Paris
  • Vitis mollis Carrière
  • Vitis titanea Naudin
  • Yama-Bouto

General Information, History, and Distribution Range

Vitis thunbergii is native to Japan, Korea, the island of Formosa (Taiwan), and China (specifically within the Yunnan province). The species was first introduced from Japan into France in 1878 by L. de Lunaret and cultivated by him near Montpellier, from where it subsequently spread into botanical and viticultural collections.

This vine is highly floriferous and produces numerous small clusters, visually resembling the flowering habit of Virginia creepers (Parthenocissus). The plant possesses distinct ornamental value, particularly in autumn when its small leaves acquire an intense dark wine-red coloration. The species has held little interest for commercial viticulturists and nurserymen. During testing, it was established that the vine has a slender trunk, lacks any resistance to Phylloxera, and completely lacks winemaking qualities. For these reasons, Vitis thunbergii has remained exclusively an object of scientific collections.

Morphological Description

  • Habit of the vine and vegetative organs: The trunk is slender and highly branched. The growth habit is predominantly creeping or upright shrubby; the plant forms a dense bush rather than a true climbing liana that scales trees. The bark is matte, of a dull manganese-red or dark wine-red color, detaching in very irregular, coarse fragments and strips that remain firmly adherent to the wood.
  • Shoots and tendrils: Annual shoots appear densely leafy due to the presence of numerous lateral branches and ramifications. The shoots are slender, cylindrical in cross-section, with short internodes. The nodes are clearly defined and prominent. Upon maturity, the wood acquires a light reddish-brown coloration with a distinct glossy luster, and the surface is finely marked with longitudinal striations. In the herbaceous state, the apices of the shoots are covered with a dense floccose or rusty felt-like down. Short, green, multicellular, herbaceous hairs are present at the nodes, which drop off rapidly. Tendrils are very numerous, intermittent (sometimes sub-continuous), slender, long, and bifid (two-forked). The flower clusters during the blooming period are completely embedded in a ferruginous down.
  • Leaf blade: The leaves are small, and their width exceeds their length. The leaf blade is always distinctly three-lobed, or occasionally five-lobed. The upper lateral sinuses are deep and rounded at their base within the blade, separating a narrow, lyre-shaped terminal lobe relative to the broad base of the leaf. The petiolar sinus is deep and open, in the shape of a V. The blade is thick, rigid, and leathery, with a finely wrinkled surface between the veins. The upper surface of the leaf is dark green, turning a dull wine-red in autumn. The lower surface is covered with a dense, felt-like down of a whitish-green or slightly rusty color. The main veins are robust, strongly prominent on the lower side of the leaf, and appear impressed into the blade on the upper side. The teeth along the margin are arranged in two series; they are broad but short and weakly incised. The petiole is short, slender, and colored wine-red.
  • Clusters and berries: Clusters are produced in very large numbers on the same shoot but are small or very small in size. The shape of the cluster is spherical or irregular, and branching and wings are absent. The peduncle is relatively short, slender, and equipped with a tendril. The pedicels are short, slender, ending in a small torus. The berries are small or very small, strictly spherical in shape. Upon full maturity, they acquire an intense dark violet, almost black coloration with a metallic luster. The skin is thick, tough, and firm. The flesh is low in juice, and the must has a harsh, sharply acid taste.
  • Seeds: A nearly constant number of seeds is formed in each berry — exactly 4 pieces. The seeds are small, trigone in shape, and swollen at their base. The beak is very short and separates abruptly from the body of the seed. The color of the seeds is dark chestnut or dull brown, with a shiny surface within the depressions. The ventral furrow is weakly marked. The chalaza has a distinct ovate shape with well-defined margins. It continues into a raphe that forms a prominent, distinct rope-like cord running around the base.