Description
Scientific name: Vitis riparia var. Michx.
Range: Upper Peninsula native (found in Baraga and Ontonagon counties)
Light: Full Sun, Partial Sun, Partial Shade
Soil: Loam, Sand
Moisture: Medium, Medium-Dry, Dry
Benefits: Pollinators, Birds, Woodland Mammals
Height: Up to 50′
Blooms: May, Jun
Zones: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Color: Yellow-Green
Root: Taproot
Riverbank Grape is one tough customer, a blessing to wildlife and problem spaces but nothing to be trifled with. A woody, fast-growing perennial vine, it can grow up to 50 feet over trees and shrubs using tendrils. The plant provides a very valuable source of food and cover to many insects, birds, and woodland mammals. Caution: Riverbank Grape can become aggressive along woodland edges and other disturbed areas. It can also sprawl 6 inches to 2 feet above the ground if not supported—but if you have an old fence you want to cover, or a rock pile, this could be your baby. Riverbank grape is better behaved in shadier riverbanks and mature forests where it competes well with other forest species.
The fruit is relished by upland gamebirds, many songbirds, waterfowl and woodland mammals. It’s pretty tart for human palates, but is reputed to make excellent jelly.
