Look closerPlants
Wild fox grapes ripening along New England wood edges in September
When: September
The fox grape, wild parent of the Concord, ripens along New England wood edges in September, and when a tangle of them is ripe you can sometimes smell the musky grape-jelly sweetness before you spot a single fruit.
Why this time of year
Wild grapes ripen in the second half of September into early October, so in those weeks the vines draped over fences, low shrubs, and clearing edges are hanging with dark fruit at kid height.
How to notice it
- Walk a wood edge, fence line, or the river corridor and look up into draped vines for clusters of small dark grapes.
- Stop and sniff near a loaded vine; ripe wild grapes announce themselves on the air some days.
- Look at the leaves: big, broad, and woolly white underneath is the fox grape.
- Keep it a smell-and-look find; leave the tasting to the birds and raccoons.
Try this with kids: Can your nose find the grapes before your eyes do?
the fox grape is New England's wild grape and the ancestor of the Concord grape
Safety
- Look and smell, do not eat: wild grapes have inedible lookalikes, so fruit identification stays a grown-up job.
Sources
- gobotany.nativeplanttrust.orgFox grape is native and widespread in Massachusetts with an S5 state rank; habitats include human-disturbed areas, forest edges, meadows and fields, and shores of rivers or lakes.
- northernwoodlands.orgWild grapes ripen in early fall, around the second half of September into early October; the wonderful aroma of ripe wild grapes can be smelled from some distance; fox grape and riverbank grape are the two most common wild species, found covering low shrubs, chain link fences, and small trees on the edges of clearings.
- fs.usda.govFox grape grows naturally from New England to Illinois and south to Georgia; berries mature in August to October and mature berries are brownish purple to dull black; it has been the most important grape in the development of North American viticulture, notably the Concord varieties.
- leereich.comThe term foxy came from the strong smell of the ripe fruit; the flavor is strong and aromatic though not excessively sweet.
In the guide for September