Narrative
Type = species. Flower = male. Per Galet (see citation): "DESCRIPTION: Growing tip: flat, completely glabrous on both sides. Young leaves: copper, shiny. Leaf: reniform, small, 014 to 036-0 to 1-00 to 23; totally glabrous on both sides, bluish-green, shiny, always entire 00 to 23, thick, folded along midvein; wide, open petiolar sinus often brace-shaped; teeth convex, medium; petioles glabrous, pinkish. Shoot: glabrous, finely ribbed, red where exposed to the sun. Flower clusters: numerous flowers having an agreeable scent; male or female depending on the cultivar. Cluster: very small, 4 to 8cm, cylindrical, losse; berries very small, 5mm, circular or oblate, black with soft pulp and highly colored juice; flavor flat and herbaceous. Seeds: small, 4mm, brown, round with a very short beak; chalaza position .52, oval, long, shallow; rudimentary raphe. Growth habit; bushy, with numerous short, upright shoots. MAIN CHARACTERISTICS FOR IDENTIFICATION: 1. Totally glabrous growing tip. 2. Copper, folded young leaves. 3. Kidney-shaped, thick, bluish-green, glabrous adult leaf. 4. Reddish shoots and bushy growth. APTITUDES:...Budbreak is early (end of March in Montpellier), bloom towards the end of May, maturation in September, and leaf fall is very late in the second half of November. The roots have a good resistance to phylloxera, but the leaves may carry phylloxera galls. Most of the cultivars (except Rupestris St. George) are susceptible to lime chlorosis. They have a good resistance to downy and powdery mildews, but are susceptible to anthracnose (a fault which has sometimes been passed on to its HDP descendants). According to Loomis, St. George shows a good resistance to Pierce's disease. In very shallow soils (as are ofen found in European vineyards), Rupestris is said to suffer in extremely dry conditions. The production of wood is average; cuttins root easily and graft well."