Vitis × goliath Ardenghi, Galasso & Banfi

Ardenghi, Nicola M. G., Banfi, Enrico & Galasso, Gabriele, 2015, A taxonomic survey of the genus Vitis L. (Vitaceae) in Italy, part II: the ‘ Euro-American’ hybrids, Phytotaxa 224 (3), pp. 232-246 : 241-244

Vitis × goliath Ardenghi, Galasso & Banfi , hybr. nov. Figs. 2B, 2D, 2F, 2H , 3B , 5 , 6

( V. riparia Michaux × V. rupestris Scheele × V. vinifera Linnaeus )

Planta hybrida , a V. riparia , V. rupestri et V. × instabili foliorum laminis ab ultimo vere rubescentibus, initialibus trilobatis, bacis sapore dulciusculo differt ; a V. vinifera et V. × bacoi foliorum laminis basi truncata vel cuneata differt .

Type: — ITALY. Lombardy: Stradella (Pavia), cavalcavia di via Valle Badia, lato S (WGS84: 45.078178°N 9.286523°E), 71 m, exp. S, robinieto su scarpata stradale, con Robinia pseudoacacia , Convolvulus sepium , Bryonia dioica , Sambucus ebulus , Phytolacca americana , Juglans regia , 20August 2014, N.Ardenghi s.n. (holotype MSNM!, 4 sheets, isotype FI!, 2 sheets). [ Fig.6 ; images available also at http://www.comune.milano.it/dseserver/webcity/documenti.nsf/0/49839462f80662afc12571010055c8c5?OpenDocument (accessed: 5 September 2015)].

Deciduous woody vine, climbing or creeping-prostrate, hermaphrodite. Tendrils bifurcate, a tendril or inflorescence present at only 2 consecutive nodes. Leaf blades thin, up to 22 cm long, not conduplicate, kidney-shaped to broadly cordate, entire to shallowly 3-lobed, lobes from inconspicuous to cuspidate, usually with phylloxera galls. Adaxial surface dark green, in late-season leaves usually with large purplish-red to purple blotches (anthocyanic pigmentation), extending from the margins towards the centre of the leaves (this feature, persisting in dried specimens, is due not only to normal leaf senescence, but also to nutrient deficiency, injuries, virus and fungal infections, see Eynard & Dalmasso 1990, and Keller 2015), dull, glabrous, veins whitish to greenish-white and sometimes bright red basally, glabrous or with sparse arachnoid and hirtellous pubescence; abaxial surface glabrous; veins at the petiole insertion glabrous or with sparse arachnoid or hirtellous pubescence; veins surface glabrous to sparsely hirtellous and/or arachnoid pubescent, with lax whitish tufts of rigid hairs at their axils (more developed in immature leaves). Margins hirtellous, sharply dentate, teeth acute (usually acute triangle-shaped), narrow; teeth at the ends of the central and the two main lateral veins usually prominent, acuminate, occasionally slightly hooked. Leaf base cuneate to truncate or broadly Ushaped. Petiole glabrous to glabrescent, with sparse hirtellous or arachnoid pubescence (more prominent in immature leaves), usually bright red. Flowers hermaphrodite. Infructescences 10.5−14.8 cm long, 5.4−9.9 cm wide, conical to widely conical in outline, lax to irregularly compact (only some berries touching each other); peduncle 2−4 cm long; rachis glabrous, occasionally with sparse arachnoid pubescence; pedicels 4−6 mm long. Berries up to 50 or more per cluster, (8−)9−11(−12) mm in diameter, spheroidal, usually flattened at the poles (oblate), black with a thin layer of pruine; exocarp (“skin”) adherent to the mesocarp; mesocarp (“flesh”) yellowish. Flavor initially sweet (as in cultigen V. vinifera ), then decidedly sharp and astringent; sometimes only sweet or sharp. Seeds (1−)2(−4) per berry, (4.5−)5.0− 6.5 mm long, 3.9−5.0 mm wide (including beak); body spheroidal to ellipsoidal-obovoid, apex roundish to slightly notched, brown; beak 0.5−1.1 mm long, 1.2−1.8 mm wide (at seed base), usually obtrapezoidal in outline, brownish; chalaza 1.3−2.2 mm long, 0.9−1.3 mm wide, ovate.

Etymology: —The specific epithet refers to “Golia”, the cultivar name given to one of the best known V. riparia × V. rupestris × V. vinifera rootstock hybrids, obtained in Italy (see below). “Golia” is the Italian translation of the name “Goliath ”, the biblical Philistine giant, whose legendary strength probably inspired the Pirovano’s in naming their hardy rootstock.

Ecology: —Compact and moderately moist soils; usually calciphile, heliophilous.

Area of origin and distribution in Europe: —Artificial hybrid originating in Europe ( Galet 1988, Eynard & Dalmasso 1990). In the European continent, it is known as a casual or naturalized alien in Spain ( Laguna 2004, 2005).

Distribution in Italy and habitat: — Lombardy and Tuscany (this paper). Mesic woodlands dominated by Robinia pseudoacacia , wasteland.

Degree of naturalization: —Naturalized.

Use: —In Italy, this fertile complex hybrid is exclusively employed as rootstock. The only cultivar listed in the national grape cultivars catalogue is ‘Golia’ (Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali 2015), a vigorous chlorosis-resistant rootstock obtained in 1913 by Italian agronomists Luigi and Alberto Pirovano (father and son) by crossing the hybrid ‘15.612 Castel’ (= V. vinifera ‘Carignan’ × V. riparia ) with V. rupestris ‘du Lot’ ( Cosmo et al. 1958, Fregoni & Bavaresco 1986, Galet 1988, Eynard & Dalmasso 1990). ‘Golia’ is employed mostly in northern and central regions, but is less widespread than other rootstock (Istituto centrale di statistica & Ministero dell’agricoltura e delle foreste 1972, Galet 1988). Its production decreased in the last five years (Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali 2015). ‘Golia’ has also been planted in Brazil by Italian immigrants ( Galet 1988, 2000).

Outside Italy (e.g., France, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, United States, and Canada), further cultivars with the same genetic composition are employed both as rootstock (e.g., ‘196-17 Castel’ and ‘4.010 Castel’, unisexual hybrids obtained by crossing V. rupestris × V. vinifera with V. riparia ) and direct-producers (e.g., ‘Maréchal Foch’ and ‘Léon Millot’, originating from the crossing of V. riparia × V. rupestris with V. vinifera ) ( Galet 1988, Laguna 2004, Robinson et al. 2012).

Notes: —Hybrids between V. rupestris and V. vinifera , featuring similar leaf morphology, may as well be present in the wild over the Italian territory. These artificial crossings, already recorded from Spain ( Laguna 2004, 2005), were employed as rootstock mostly in central and southern Italy. One of the best known is ‘Aramon-Rupestris Ganzin n° 1’, one of the oldest Euro-American hybrids, obtained in France in 1879. Successfully and largely used at the beginning of the phylloxera crisis for its hardiness and ease of grafting, it was then rejected for the low root-resistance to phylloxera, especially in warm climates ( Olivieri 1936, Cosmo et al. 1958, Istituto centrale di statistica & Ministero dell’agricoltura e delle foreste 1972, Galet 1988, Eynard & Dalmasso, 1990, Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali 2015).

Unisexual individuals of V. × goliath may be found in the wild, since a number of male clones, such as ‘196-17 Castel’ and ‘4.010 Castel’, occur in cultivation ( Galet 1988).

Figures

FIGURE 2. A–B) Petiole insertion (abaxial surface). C–D) Petiole insertion detail. E–F) Vein axils (abaxial leaf surface). G–H) Abaxial leaf surface pubescence. A, C, E, G) V.×bacoi; B, D, F, H) V.×goliath. All photos by Michele Zilioli.

FIGURE 3. Seeds, ventral (on the left) and dorsal (on the right) sides. A) V.×bacoi; B) V.×goliath; C) V. vinifera; D) V. riparia; E) V. ×instabilis. All photos by Michele Zilioli.

FIGURE 5. Vitis ×goliath. Leaf blade variability: a−b, d−e) adaxial surface; c) abaxial surface.

FIGURE 6. Holotype of V.×goliath Ardenghi, Galasso & Banfi, parts A−D (MSNM).