NC STATE UNIVERSITY
Horticulture Information Leaflet 8203
Revised 06
/06
— Author Reviewed
06/06
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department of Horticultural Science
Distributed in furtherance
of the Acts of Congress
of May 8 and June 30, 1914.
Employment and program
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Carolina State University,
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MUSCADINE GRAPES IN THE HOME GARDEN
Barclay Poling, Professor and Extension Specialist
ConnieFisk, Muscadine Extension Specialist, (DuplinCounty)
Introduction
Muscadine grapes are well adapted to the
Coastal Plain of North Carolina, where
temperatures seldom fall below 10°F.
Considerable inj ury generally occurs where
winter temperatures drop below 0°F. Some
of the more hardy cult ivars such as ‘ Magnolia’ ,
‘Carlos’ and ‘Sterling’ survive northward to
Virginia and westward to the foothills of the
Blue Ridge Mountains. Muscadines have a
high degree of tolerance to pests and diseases
that makes the production of bunch grapes
nearly impossible in eastern North Carolina.
There is no other fruit withsuch strong personal
associations for so many native North
Carolinians. The fruit has a distinct fruity or
“musky” aroma, while the juice by itself is
sweet with a light taste and aroma. The fruit is
very popular with native Southerners for
making into wine, pies and jellies.
Origin
Muscadines grapes, (Vitis rotund ifolia , or
alternatively, Muscadiniana rotundifolia) are
often referred to as scuppemongs. Muscadine
is native to the Southeastern United States and
has been cultured for more than 400 years.
Native Americans preserved muscadines as
dried fruit long before theEuropeans inhabited
this continent. As early as 1565,CaptainJohn
Hawkins reported that the Spanish settlements
in Florida made large quantities of muscadine
wine. For much of the history of the crop,
varieties were simply selectioas fromthe wild.
The first recognized muscadine cultivar was a
bronze selection, found before 1 760 by Isaac
Alexander in T yrrell County , NC. It was fu st
known as the ‘Big White Grape’ , and was
later named ‘Scuppernong’ after the area in
which it was found. With time, the name
scuppernong became generic with all bronze
muscadines, regardless of actual variety name.
However, this is incorrect nomenclature, since
‘Scuppernong’ isonlyoneofmany cultivars
of muscadine grapes. Bullis and its variants
(bullace, bullet grape, bull grape) are very old
names for dark-fruited muscadines. Some
authorities have written that the name “Bull”
grape reflects comparison of the berries with
cow or pigs eyes ; or, alternatively , muscadines
were called “Bullace” because of their
resemblance to a European plum of the same
name, and that Bullis, Bull and Bullet are all
corruptions of the Bullace !
Nearly 1 00 years of breeding work has
resulted in the release of many improved
cultivars. ‘Carlos’, ‘Doreen’, ‘Nobel’,
‘Magnolia’, and ‘Nesbitt’ are some of the
most important cultivated varieties in North
Carolina.
Environmental Preferences
Light - Avoid shaded areas. Fruit set and
production will be reduced if the vines are
shaded for more than several hours each day
during the growing season.
Soil - Muscadine grapes will survive and
produce a crop on a wide range of soils as
long as internal drainage is good. Plant fai lure
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