Peanut :: essays research papers

This article is about peanut, the plant. There is a separate article about Peanuts, the comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. Peanut Peanut leaves and freshly dug pods Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Subfamily: Faboideae Tribe: Aeschynomeneae Genus: Arachis Species: A. hypogaea Binomial name Arachis hypogaea L. The Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) is a species in the pea family Fabaceae native to South America. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing to 30-50 cm tall. The leaves are alternate, pinnate with four leaflets (two opposite pairs; no terminal leaflet), each leaflet 1-7 cm long and 1-3 cm broad. The flowers are a typical peaflower in shape, 2-4 cm across, yellow with reddish veining. After pollination, the fruit develops into a legume 3-7 cm long containing 2-3 (rarely 1 or 4) seeds, which forces its way underground to mature. Although a nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense the fruit of the peanut is a woody, indehiscent legume or pod. Peanuts are also known as Groundnuts (because they grow underground), Earthnuts, Goobers, Goober peas, Pindas, Pinders, Manila nuts and Monkey nuts (the last of these is often used to mean the entire pod, not just the seeds). Contents [showhide] 1 Origins 2 Cultivation 3 Cultivars of Peanuts 3.1 Spanish Group 3.2 Runner Group 3.3 Virginia Group 3.4 Valencia Group 3.5 Tennessee Red and Tennessee White Groups 4 Uses 5 Allergies 6 U.S. Department of Agriculture Program for Peanuts 7 Trade 8 See also 9 External links [edit] Origins Archaeological evidence demonstrates that the peanut was domesticated in prehistoric times in South America, where wild ancestors are still found. The plant was later spread worldwide by European traders. Cultivation in North America was popularized by African American, who brought the Kikongo word goober. [edit] Cultivation Peanuts, showing legumes, one split open revealing two seeds with their brown seed coatsThe flower of the Arachis hypogaea is borne above ground and after it withers, the stalk elongates, bends down, and forces the ovary underground. When the seed is mature, the inner lining of the pods (called the seed coat) changes color from white to a reddish brown. The entire plant, including most of the roots, is removed from the soil during harvesting. The pods begin in the orange veined, yellow petaled, pealike flowers, which are borne in axillary clusters above ground. Following self-pollination (peanuts are complete inbreeders), the flowers fade. The stalks at the bases of the ovaries, called pegs, elongate rapidly, and turn downward to bury the fruits several inches in the ground to complete their development.