Florida Forest Plants

Wild grape  (Vitis rotundifolia)

Wild grape is also known as muscadine, scuppernong, and southern fox grape, and is valued for its edible, tasty fruit. Wild grape grows from Texas to south Florida, north to Delaware, and west to Missouri.

The grapes are a favorite food source for white-tailed deer and other wildlife also eat the fruit, including black bear, white-tailed deer, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, raccoon, skunk, squirrel, and opossum. Songbirds such as cardinals, mockingbirds, robins, cedar waxwings, consume the fruit and are essential to the dispersal of wild grape seeds.

Humans also enjoy the unique fruity flavor of the grapes and make jellies, jams, juices, and wines from the fruit. Commercial production is small, but they are widely grown for home use and local markets in southeastern states. Native Americans in Florida also made a blue dye from the grapes.		  

 Identifying Characteristics
Size/Form:
 Wild grape is a high climbing, woody vine that grows up to 60' to 100 long in the wild. It has long-reaching, alternately arranged branches.
Leaves:
 Leaves are simple, alternate, deciduous, and about 4" wide and 4" long. The rounded leaves have coarsely serrate edges. Leaves are smooth, dark green above and green tinged yellow, somewhat hairy below.
Fruit:
 The fruit is a berry/grape that is borne singly or in small clusters, usually no more than 12 berries in a cluster. Berries are round and up to 1" or more in diameter. The black purple or bronze berries have tan spots when ripe, a thick, tough skin, and contain up to 5 hard, oblong seeds. Berries ripen from July through September.
Stem:
 In contrast to most other grapes, wild grape has a tight, non-shedding bark, warty shoots, and unbranched tendrils.
Habitat:
 Wild grape grows in pine flatwoods, dry hammocks, and coastal sites.

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