The common grapevine, an enduring symbol of the Mediterranean with over 5,000 varieties. This species is central to viticulture, offering a range of grapes for wine and table consumption. Evidence of its domestication appears as early as 3500–3000 BC, in the South Caucasus. The grapevine's cultivation is global, its fruits, consumed fresh or dried into raisins, sultanas, and currants, have been valued for millennia for both nutrition and medicinal purposes. The leaves also find use in diverse culinary traditions, and the juice is a key ingredient in wine and vinegar production. The transition from wild to cultivated forms is marked by changes in seed shape, with the wild vine bearing separate male and female flowers requiring pollination, in contrast to the hermaphroditic flowers of domesticated varieties​​. Photographed in the Valley of Cauca, Colombia.