Arachis

Arachis
Arachis hypogaea leaves and freshly dug pods
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Tribe: Dalbergieae
Genus: Arachis
L.
Species

See text

Synonyms[1]
  • Arachidna Plum. ex Boehm. (1760), nom. superfl.
  • Mundubi Adans. (1763)

Arachis is a genus of about 70 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family (Fabaceae), native to South America, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Pterocarpus clade of the Dalbergieae.[2][3] At least one species, the peanut (Arachis hypogaea), is a major food crop species of global importance; some of the other species are cultivated for food to a small extent in South America. Other species such as A. pintoi are cultivated worldwide as forage and soil conditioner plants, with the leaves providing high-protein feed for grazing livestock and a nitrogen source in agroforestry and permaculture systems.

Arachis species, including the peanut, are used as food plants by some Lepidoptera species, including the flame shoulder, nutmeg, and turnip moth.[4]

  1. ^ Arachis L. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lavin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cardoso was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Robinson, Gaden S.; Ackery, Phillip R.; Kitching, Ian; Beccaloni, George W.; Hernández, Luis M. (2023). "HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants". The Natural History Museum, London. doi:10.5519/havt50xw. Retrieved 2020-06-14.