#frost grape

[googledocs]

Frost Grape, cyanotype photogram with 23k gold White oak, cyanotype with watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil

by Billy Renkl

[vandaliatraveler]

More late summer treasure from a short hike around Messinger Lake (a.k.a., trout pond) at Coopers Rock State Forest.

From top: the nearly ripe berries of frost grape (Vitis vulpina)*, whose fruit reaches full maturity just before the first frost of October; sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale), whose dried leaves were once used as an ingredient in snuff; Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora), also known as ghost plant and corpse plant, a parasitic plant that derives nutrients from trees via a mycorrhizal relationship with fungi; Appalachian ladies’ tresses (Spiranthes arcisepala), a late summer orchid found growing at the moist edges of wetlands; white wood aster (Eurybia divaricata), a late-summer perennial of Appalachia’s rich woods and clearings; a pair of eastern destroying angels (Amanita bisporigera) hiding in the ferns, an idyllic spot for these deadly beauties; a young sulphur shelf fungus (Laetiporus sulphureus), also known as chicken-of-the-woods, at prime edibility; and Appalachian oak-leech (Aureolaria laevigata), also known as entireleaf yellow false foxglove and smooth false foxglove, a partially-parasitic plant that attaches to and derives nutrients from oak tree roots while also creating energy from photosynthesis.

* Corrected the scientific name from an earlier post.

[ejadabjgrahams]

Wild Grapes: Nature's Superfruit

🍇 Wild Grape: The Ancient, Hardy, Nutrient‑Rich Fruit of Forest and Field Wild grapes (Vitis spp.) grow naturally across forests, riverbanks, and open fields, producing small, intensely flavored berries with deep cultural roots and impressive nutritional value. Their history stretches back thousands of years, connecting Indigenous traditions, early agriculture, natural fermentation, and modern…

Wild Grapes: Nature's Superfruit

[beaverdangit]

riverbank grape (Vitis riparia) and lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis); traintrack photo dump

[heaveninawildflower]

Frost Grape (circa 1915). Watercolour and ink on paper by Hannah Borger Overbeck (United States, 1870-1931).

Image and text courtesy LACMA Decorative Arts and Design