218 
and is terminated by what appears to the naked eye a short point. 
Examined under a glass this point discloses P its extremity a trun- 
cated, somewhat concave and dilated stigma.” 
Hugh M. Neisler, acting upon the supposition that Bentham's E 
statements were correct, made some observations upon the fructi- 
fication of Arachis which convinced him that, in his own words, 
“The flowers of Arachis are all petal-bearing and all fertile.” 
(Silliman's Am. Journal of Science and Art, 2d series, 19: 
1855). Bentham remained unconvinced and published a reply in 
Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany, 7 
1855. It is difficult to understand how Bentham could have per- 
sisted in his mistake, as he did, in the face of so much evidence. 
It requires no very expert examination of the plant to be con- 
vinced that what he mistook for a cleistogamic flower is the naked 
ovary after the flower parts have fallen away; and that what he 
describes as the sessile stigma of the barren ovary is the scar left 
by the deciduous style. 
As to the affinities of Arachis no satisfactory conclusion is yet 
attained. Linnaeus placed it next to Cicer; Persoon, nearer An- 
thyllis; Jussieu, between Ozozis and Anthyllis. De Candolle, 
classifying it according to the character of its embryo, place it 
among his Geoffroyae, but at the same time recognizing how little 
it conforms in other respects to these plants, suggested its forming 
together with Voandzeia a distinct tribe. Robert Brown says that 
Arachis and Cercis possess straight embryos in common with the 
Caesalpinieae and Mimoseae and in which respect they differ from 
all of the Papilionaceae. Bentham, adhering to his opinion that 
Arachis possessed dimorphous flowers, points out a resemblance 
to Stylosanthes, but finds an important difference from the group 
Hedysareae, of which Stylosanthes is a member, in the unarticulated 
legume. He finds Arachis not at all similar to Voandzeia. Pend- 
ing a harmonizing of these conflicting opinions Arachis is usually 
accepted among the Papilionaceae. 
General Description of the Plant. 
Arachis hypogaea is a low annual plant, with one upright flower- 
less branch surrounded by decumbent spreading branches, upon 
which the flowers are borne. The stem is cylindrical and smooth, 
