who planted the first vitis vinifera in the u.s. colonies
History of American wine In California, the first vineyard and winery was established by Spanish Catholic missionaries in 1769. California has two native grape varieties, but they make very poor quality wine. Therefore, the missionaries used the Mission grape, which is called Criolla or "colonialized European" in South America. Although a Vitis vinifera, it is a grape of "very modest" quality. The first secular vineyard was established in Los Angeles by an immigrant from Bordeaux, Jean-Louis Vignes. Dissatisfied with the Mission grape, he imported vines from France. By 1851 he had 40,000 vines under cultivation and was producing 1,000 US barrels (120,000Â L) of wine per year.
Timeline of plant evolution The evidence of plant evolution changes dramatically in the Ordovician with the first extensive appearance of spores in the fossil record (Cambrian spores have been found, also). The first terrestrial plants were probably in the form of tiny plants resembling liverworts when, around the Middle Ordovician, evidence for the beginning of the terrestrialization of the land is found in the form of tetrads of spores with resistant polymers in their outer walls. These early plants did not have conducting tissues, severely limiting their size. They were, in effect, tied to wet terrestrial environments by their inability to conduct water, like extant liverworts, hornworts, and mosses, although they reproduced with spores, important dispersal units that have hard protective outer coatings, allowing for their preservation in the fossil record, in addition to protecting the future offspring against the desiccating environment of life on land. With spores, plants on land could have sent out large numbers of spores that could grow into an adult plant when sufficient environmental moisture was present.