USE OF AMPELOGRAPHIC METHODS IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF NOVA SCOTIAN GRAPE (VITIS SPP.) CULTIVARS by Laura A. Wiser Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science with Honours in Biology Acadia University April, 2011 © Copyright by Laura A. Wiser, 2011 This thesis by Laura A. Wiser is accepted in its present form by the Department of Biology as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science with Honours Approved by the Thesis Supervisor __________________________ ____________________ (David Kristie) Date Approved by the Head of the Department __________________________ ____________________ (Donald Stewart) Date Approved by the Honours Committee __________________________ ____________________ (Sonia Hewitt) Date ii I, Laura A. Wiser, grant permission to the University Librarian at Acadia University to reproduce, loan or distribute copies of my thesis in microform, paper or electronic formats on a non-profit basis. I, however, retain the copyright in my thesis. _________________________________ Signature of Author _________________________________ Date iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people who have helped me make this project possible. First, I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. David Kristie, for his help and suggestions in conducting my research and in writing my thesis. I would also like to thank Dr. Jonathan Murray and Kim Strickland at Muir Murray Estate Winery for allowing me to conduct my research in a beautiful work environment over the summer. I would like to thank NSERC for funding my summer work. Many people have helped make this project possible by letting me sample plants from their vineyards, and by sharing their knowledge with me. I would like to thank Walter and Ralf Wuhrer for sharing their expertise in viticulture, and for allowing me to spend many hours in their vineyard sampling plants. I would also like to thank Andrew Jamieson at Agriculture Canada, Gina Haverstock at Gaspereau Winery, and Jürg Stutz at Domaine de Grand Pré for allowing me to sample their plants, and for giving me helpful tips along the way. Finally, I would like to thank the staff at the E.C. Smith Herbarium for allowing me to use space in the herbarium, and for teaching me how to press, dry and properly store my plants. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ix LIST OF TABLES xiii ABSTRACT xv 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 History of Grape Cultivation in Nova Scotia 1 1.2 Factors Involved in Nova Scotian Grape Cultivation 2 1.3 Description of the Vitis Genus 3 1.4 Introduction to Vitis vinifera L. 4 1.5 Introduction to Hybrids 4 1.5.1 French-American Hybrids 5 1.5.2 American Hybrids 7 1.5.3 Other Species and Hybrids 10 1.6 Introduction to Ampelography 10 1.6.1 Introduction to Ampelographic Methods 11 1.6.2 Indument of Plant Parts 12 1.6.3 Colour of Vegetative Plant Parts 13 1.6.4 Leaf Contour and Surface 13 1.6.5 Fruit Characteristics 14 1.6.6. Additional Ampelographic Characteristics 14 1.7 Description of Ampelometric Calculations 15 1.8 Objectives of this Study 17 v 2.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS 25 2.1 Cultivars and Plants Sampled in this Project 25 2.2 Ampelographic Observations 26 2.3 Number of Leaves Used Per Cultivar 28 2.4 Ampelometric Measurements and Calculations 28 2.5 Ampelographic and Ampelometric Descriptions of Unknown Plants 29 2.6 Graphing and Statistical Analysis 29 3.0 RESULTS 31 3.1 Indument 31 3.1.1 Indument of Growing Tips and Upper and Lower Leaf Surfaces 31 3.1.2 Vein Indument 33 3.1.3 Indument of Petioles and Shoots 33 3.2. Colouration of Hair and Vegetative Plant Parts 34 3.2.1 Hair Colour 34 3.2.2 Colour of Vegetative Plant Parts 34 3.3 Description of Petiolar Sinuses 35 3.4 Dentation 35 3.5 Other Characteristics 35 3.6 Ampelometric Measurements 36 3.7 Description of Unknowns 37 4.0 DISCUSSION 71 4.1 Evaluation of Ampelographic Characteristics 71 4.1.2 Growing Tip and Leaf Indument 71 4.1.3 Indument of Veins, Petioles and Shoots 75 vi 4.1.4 Colour of Hair and Vegetative Plant Parts 76 4.1.5 Petiolar Sinus Description 77 4.1.6 Other Characteristics 78 4.2 Evaluation of Ampelometric Characteristics 79 4.2.1 Vein Length Ratios 79 4.2.2 Sum of Angles 80 4.2.3 Leaf Length to Width Ratios 81 4.2.4 Leaf Size 81 4.2.5 Depth of Superior Lateral Sinuses 81 4.2.6 Depth of Inferior Lateral Sinuses 82 4.3 Comparison to Galet’s Ampelographic Observations 82 4.4 Identification of Unknowns 86 4.4.1 Identification of Unknown #1 86 4.4.2 Identification of Unknown #2 87 4.4.3 Identification of Unknown #3 89 4.4.4 Identification of Unknown #4 89 4.5 Sources of Error and Future Work 90 5.0 CONCLUSIONS 99 6.0 REFERENCES 101 APPENDIX 1 104 APPENDIX 2 106 APPENDIX 3 108 APPENDIX 4 110 vii APPENDIX 5 112 APPENDIX 6 114 APPENDIX 7 116 APPENDIX 8 118 APPENDIX 9 120 APPENDIX 10 122 APPENDIX 11 123 APPENDIX 12 124 APPENDIX 13 125 APPENDIX 14 126 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Figure Title Page Number Number Figures Accompanying Introduction 1 Underside of an upper young NewYork Muscat leaf with 18 felty indument. 2 Underside of a Sovereign Coronation leaf with downy 18 indument. 3 Underside of a mature Riesling leaf with cobwebby 19 indument. 4 Valiant growing tip showing white hair with pink margins. 19 5 Veins on the underside of an upper young leaf showing 20 rough pubescence. 6 Bullate upper surface of a lower young V. amurensis leaf. 21 7 Crimped upper surface of a mature V. amurensis leaf. 21 8 Open growing tip from a De Chaunac plant. 22 9 Globular growing tip from a Sovereign Coronation plant. 22 10 Different tooth shapes present on mature Vitis spp. leaves 23 where (a) is a convex tooth, (b) is concave, (c) is pointed and (d) is hooked. 11 Lyre-shaped petiolar sinus on a mature KW97-8 leaf. 23 12 Underside of a mature Chardonnay leaf with a naked base. 24 13 Main veins, angles and lateral sinuses of a mature KW97-8 24 leaf. ix Figures Accompanying Results 14 Changes in indument during development on upper surfaces of 41 leaves of plants with cobwebby growing tips. 15 Changes in indument during development on lower sides of 42 leaves of plants with cobwebby growing tips. 16 Changes in indument during development on upper sides of 43 leaves of plants with downy growing tips. 17 Changes in indument during development on undersides of 44 leaves of plants with downy growing tips. 18 Changes in indument during development on upper sides of 45 leaves of plants with felty growing tips. 19 Changes in indument during development on undersides of 46 leaves of plants with felty growing tips. 20 Node of a Sovereign Coronation plant showing an 52 uncharacterized hair type. 21 Mean L2 to L1 vein length ratios for each cultivar. Error bars 59 indicate one standard deviation away from the mean. A central bolded line represents the mean for the overall population. One and two standard deviations away from the overall mean are also represented with dotted lines. Data presented in this figure corresponds to data in Appendix 1. Raw data is shown in Appendix 10. 22 Mean L3 to L1 vein length ratios for each cultivar. Error bars 60 indicate one standard deviation away from the mean. A central bolded line represents the mean for the overall population. One and two standard deviations away from the overall mean are also represented with dotted lines. Data presented in this figure corresponds to data in Appendix 2. Raw data is shown in Appendix 10. 23 Mean L4 to L1 vein length ratios for each cultivar. Error bars 61 indicate one standard deviation away from the mean. A central bolded line represents the mean for the overall population. One and two standard deviations away from the overall mean are also represented with dotted lines. Data presented in this figure corresponds to data in Appendix 3. Raw data is shown in Appendix 10. x 24 Mean sum of angles between L1 and L3 for each cultivar. Error 62 bars indicate one standard deviation away from the mean. A central bolded line represents the mean for the overall population. One and two standard deviations away from the overall mean are also represented with dotted lines. Data presented in this figure corresponds to data in Appendix 4. Raw data is shown in Appendix 11. 25 Mean sum of angles between L1 and L4 for each cultivar. Error 63 bars indicate one standard deviation away from the mean. A central bolded line represents the mean for the overall population. One and two standard deviations away from the overall mean are also represented with dotted lines. Data presented in this figure corresponds to data in Appendix 5. Raw data is shown in Appendix 11. 26 Mean leaf length to width ratios for each cultivar. Error bars 64 indicate one standard deviation away from the mean. A central bolded line represents the mean for the overall population. One and two standard deviations away from the overall mean are also represented with dotted lines. Data presented in this figure corresponds to data in Appendix 6. Raw data is shown in Appendix 12. 27 Mean leaf size for each cultivar. Error bars indicate one standard 65 deviation away from the mean.