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.
n the college essay, “ Chunky Peanut Butter” Jam Gregory describes himself as “ the chunky peanut butter”. Meaning that he feels that he is like the heart of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. His article was certainly the most compelling out of the other two. A few reasons are, he uses good word choices and figurative language, shows he does different activities, and how he likes to help people.
Have you ever wondered who invented Peanut Butter? Did you know that the same man made “more than 450 products ranging from margarine to library paste that could be made from the peanut, the sweet potato, and various other cultivated plants”. That man, also known as the “Peanut Man”, is George Washington Carver. There are three commonly asked questions about Carver including: “What was his personal life like?” “What did he actually do?” and “What did he like to do when he wasn’t working?” Basically, Carver was an African-American slave born at the end of the Civil War that was able to overcome many obstacles and become a famous scientist and inventor.
The American chestnut was not only an important food source for almost all living organisms of the Eastern, North America, but it was very important in providing housing and furniture and numerous other wooden necessities. The tree possessed rot resistant properties and strait grained wood which were valuable in buildings and many other applications. Its enormous trunk rose one-hundred feet into the canopy of the forest. Diameters of five feet have been recorded and many photos of the tree show greater trunk girths. The tree was able to produce its eatable fruit within seven years of germination. It was said to be truly treasured by early Americans.
Peyote was originally described in 1560, however it was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that botanists were able to conduct field research and correctly classify the cactus (Anderson, 1980). Field studies have concluded that there are two distinct populations of peyote which represent two species. The first and most common, Lophophora williamsii extends from southern Texas reaching south to the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi. The second and least common of the two species is Lophophora difusa, which occurs in the dryer terrain of the Mexican state of Queretaro. This species differs from the more common species by, "being yellowish-green rather than blue green in color, by lacking any type of ribs or furrows, by having poorly developed podaria (elevated humps), and by being a softer, more succulent plant" (Anderson 1980). Native Americans use peyote in their religious practices because of its psychoactive properties, and is usually eaten as mescal buttons, the dried, brown pieces of the above part of the cactus (Lewis, 1977).
One person’s ideas won’t change the world but it can make a significant impact. George Washington Carver overcame slavery but his ideas about crops and peanuts clearly improved life for many people. George Washington Carver is best known for his agricultural experimentation especially on the uses of the peanut but his life and research led to a better life for many. His legacy is that regardless of your race you can achieve great things if you preserve.
In the story “Peaches”, Reginald McKnight introduces his main characters, one being Marcus. Marcus is a good guy, but he is described in many different ways, due to his bad temper and immaturity level. Throughout the work, author Reginald McKnight takes great care to illustrate situations and describe feelings and personalities that many men experience. This way, even though Marcus is having trouble controlling himself around other people and arrogant at times, he still tries to be a better person for Rita and for himself. He does this by going out of the country to experience other cultures and enhance his morals. Although Marcus is strong and eager, he is actually an easily irascible, impatient, immature, manipulative, unstable man whose inexperience does not prepare him for the frequent mishaps in his life.
In the story “Peaches”, Reginald McKnight introduces his main characters, one being Marcus. Marcus is a good guy, but he is described in different ways, due to his confidence and insecurity. Throughout the work, author Reginald McKnight takes great care to illustrate situations and describe feelings and personalities that many men experience. This way, even though Marcus is having trouble controlling himself around other people and arrogant at times, he still tries to be a better person for Rita and for himself. He does this by going out of the country to experience other cultures and enhance his morals. On one level Marcus demonstrates that he is incredibly confident, on the other level he shows signs of being insecure, manipulative, unstable and incapable of achieving change.
From 1997 to 2008 the number of American children that have some form of nut allergy has tripled. Peanut allergies are considered one of “Big 8” food allergies that accounts for 90% of allergies which includes 3 million Americans out of the 21 million Americans that suffer from some form of allergy. Less than 21% of those individuals with peanut allergies will outgrow it. Peanut allergies account for the most common food related deaths. Four out of every 100 children have some form of food allergy. If an allergy is going to surface it will effect a child between 12 and 14 months of age this is why child care environments are the most vulnerable. Peanut allergies affect about 5% within this age group. I was surprised with the various names and different items that peanuts can be found in. Peanut
The Pecan tree is a native tree to North America. When early European settlers traveled across the sea to settle in the New World, they found pecan trees located in numerous places in this new land. Since then, the pecan tree has become one of the most important orchard species in terms of acreage. Indians began using pecans almost 8000 years ago in what is now Texas. The first budded pecan trees were produced in Louisiana in the mid-1800s and orchards have been established throughout the Southern states. The first recorded shipment of pecans to England was documented in 1761, by Spanish and European explorers (Anderson and Crocker, 2004). In 1917, a commercial shipment of pecans came out of Georgia and since then, Georgia has been the leading producer of pecans. Although Georgia is the leading producer, in some years collections of pecans from wild trees in Oklahoma and Texas surpass the production in Georgia.
The peanut also helped the disease Polio wich leaves the victms with weakened musles or paralized limbs. The peanut’s oil helped the polio victems be able to regain some lost function. George W. Carver did massages to the victms with the peanut oil but there is acully there was no scincetific evedence that the peanut oil actully helped. many just beileve it was the massages that helped.
So how did something not grown to any significant extent in West Virginia evolve into “our food?” Like many things for mountaineers, we got them from the Indians but not the ones that readily come to mind. That’s Indians as in South American Indians. Phaseolus vulgaris, pinto beans and cousins, originated from a common bean ancestor domesticated in Peru or close by 7,000 years ago. In fact, “pinto” is a Spanish word for painted, coined to describe the mottled or seemingly painted specks on this variety of bean.
The opium poppy has been used as a medicinal plant for centuries all over the world. The opium poppy plant belongs to the Papaveraceae family. The scientific name of the opium poppy is Papaver somniferum L., and it is native to Turkey. The plant has lobed leaves, milky sap and four to six petaled flowers with several stamens surrounding the ovary. The two sepals drop off when the petals unfold. The ovary then develops into a short, many seeded capsule that opens in dry weather. The small seeds of the opium poppy plant are dispersed by wind. The plant has five inch purple or white flowers on plants three to sixteen feet tall. It is and annual plant which needs to be planted only once for several years of harvest. There are many varieties of poppy plants grown other then the opium poppy, mostly for seasonings, oil, birdseed and attractive flowers.
Kola Nut Igbo people are mostly home in the Southeastern part of Nigeria. Igbo culture has many unique customs, practices, traditions, and added concepts either through evolution or outside influences of the people. The kola nut in the Igbo culture is very significant, symbolizing respect and association between people. It is the nut of the tree cola nitida or cola acuminata tree which grows in the West African rainforest. Once brought into a home it’s then cracked then eaten among guest.
Nutrition. Peanut butter is well known because it contains many vitamins, proteins, and fiber. Nowadays, it is very important for everyone to start a day with a meal that it is rich in vitamins, nutrients, and provide energy throughout the day. Besides obesity and malnutrition is a worldwide problem.
Since the plant’s domestication the sunflower has been one of the most important crops in production that is native to North America, comparable to maize and wheat. The sunflower, what was once a plant utilized only in the Americas is now one of the most widely and diversely recognized used plant species in the world.