Muscadine

Description:

Grapevine native to the American South. It grows wild, but is also cultivated in a small way by farmers for wine, juice and jelly. A regional favorite in season. You don't eat the skin, which is much thicker than a grape. You bite a hole in the top and squeeze-suck. Muscadines can be purple, gold or green when ripe. The series takes the same muscadine vine backwards in time, from nearly ripe to just past blooming.

Habitat:

Muscadine is a climbing vine that likes the hot, moist environment of Southern forests and lowlands. It's non uncommon for people to plant muscadine vines in their yard, usually trained on a trellis, because if you like them, they're hard to find, even in the South. Farmers Markets will sometimes have them, but that's about it. Wild muscadine vines are important plants because they improve wildlife habitat by providing cover, browse and fruit for many kinds of animals.

Notes:

There's another native grape, scuppernong ... tastes almost the same.