Colerain
(Labrusca)
This is one of the numerous white seedlings of Concord and one of the
few with sufficient merit to be kept in cultivation. The vine has the
characteristic foliage and habit of growth of its parent, but the
fruit is earlier by a week, is of much higher quality and lacks the
foxiness of most Labruscas. The grapes are sprightly and vinous, and
neither seeds nor skin are as objectionable as in the
arent. The
fruit hangs to the vine and keeps well, but owing to tender pulp does
not ship well. The variety is unproductive in some localities.
Colerain is worthy a place in home vineyards. David Bundy, Colerain,
Ohio, grew this variety from seed of Concord planted in 1880.
Vine vigorous, hardy, healthy, unproductive. Canes slender, dark
reddish-brown; nodes flattened; internodes short, bifid. Leaves
thick; upper surface light green, dull, smooth; lower surface
bronze, downy; leaf not lobed, terminus acute; petiolar sinus
wide; basal and lateral sinus very shallow when present; teeth
shallow. Flowers self-fertile, opening in mid-season; stamens
upright.
Fruit early. Clusters medium in size and length, slender, blunt,
tapering, irregular, strongly shouldered, compact; pedicel
slender, smooth; brush green. Berries round, light green, glossy
with thin bloom, persistent; skin unusually thin, tender,
adherent, unpigmented, astringent; flesh pale green, translucent,
juicy, fine-grained, tender, soft, vinous, sweet; good. Seeds
free, one to three, small, broad, notched, short, plump, brown.