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. 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.
Species
Arachis comprises the following sections and species:
Arachis batizocoi Krapov. & W.C. Greg.
Arachis benensis Krapov. et al.
Arachis cardenasii Krapov. & W.C. Greg.
Arachis correntina (Burkart) Krapov. & W.C. Greg.
Arachis cruziana Krapov. et al.
Arachis decora Krapov. et al.
Arachis diogoi Hoehne
Arachis duranensis Krapov. & W.C. Greg.
Arachis glandulifera Stalker
Arachis gregoryi C. E. Simpson et al.
Arachis helodes Mart. ex Krapov. & Rigoni
Arachis herzogii Krapov. et al.
Arachis hoehnei Krapov. & W.C. Greg.
Arachis hypogaea L.—peanut
subsp. fastigiata Waldron
var. aequatoriana Krapov. & W. C. Greg
var. fastigiata (Waldron) Krapov. & W. C. Greg
var. peruviana Krapov. & W. C. Greg
var. vulgaris Harz
subsp. hypogaea L.
var. hirsuta J. Kohler
var. hypogaea L.
Arachis ipaensis Krapov. & W.C. Greg.
Arachis kempff-mercadoi Krapov. et al.
Arachis krapovickasii C. E. Simpson et al.
Arachis kuhlmannii Krapov. & W.C. Greg.
Arachis linearifolia Valls et al.
Arachis magna Krapov. et al.
Arachis microsperma Krapov. et al.
Arachis monticola Krapov. & Rigoni
Arachis palustris Krapov. et al.
Arachis praecox Krapov. et al.
Arachis schininii Krapov....
