About Vitis cinerea var. helleri (L.H.Bailey) M.O.Moore
Vitis cinerea, commonly called graybark grape, is an American native grape variety. It is also known by the common names winter grape and possum grape. It produces small black berries that are mildly unpleasant to eat. While it is particularly plentiful in Missouri and Louisiana, it also occurs throughout the eastern half of the United States, ranging as far west as Texas, north to Illinois, and south to Florida. Its leaves are cordiform-emarinate, flabby and dull, with the leaf blade finely wrinkled between sub-veins, similar in texture to crepe. The teeth along the leaf edges are very blunt, and the buds are grey-ashy-violet in color. This species grows in habitats including floodplain woodlands, wet thickets, and swampy forests.
