Arachis L.

Annual or perennial erect or creeping herbs. Leaves paripinnately 4-foliolate, rarely 3-foliolate, alternate; stipules partly adnate to the petiole; stipels absent. Inflorescences axillary, reduced to a solitary flower or a cluster of flowers; calyx membranous, filiform, 5-lobed or bilabiate; the 4 upper lobes joined, the lower one more or less free. Petals yellowish, sometimes with reddish lines. Stamens 8−10, monadelphous; anthers alternately and basifixed, versatile. Ovary subsessile, situated at the base of the receptacular tube. Pods oblong or sausage-shaped, 1−6-seeded, restricted between the seeds but not articulated, continuous inside, functionally indehiscent, the ovary pushed into the soil by the reflexed, lengthening, gynophores. Seeds with thick and fleshy cotyledons, rich in oil.