Frost-Grape or Chicken-Grape
Categories:
Vii Wild Food On The Trail
If you try to eat the _frost-grapes_ before frost you will find them
decidedly sour, but after a good frost they are really fine. They have a
snappy, spicy flavor all their own, and one eats them, like currants,
skin and all. They are small, round, and black with a slight bloom. The
clusters are well-filled and hang loosely. The vine grows luxuriantly,
branching from a large trunk, and is found in wet places and on the
banks of streams, though it does well in the open and in drier soil. It
flourishes in New England and down to Illinois and westward to Nebraska.
The leaves usually suggest three lobes but are mostly undivided. They
are coarsely toothed and the under side bears occasional hairs along the
veins.