514 



OLEAGINOUS PLANTS. 



appellation of " ground pistachio," which caused the fruit to be 

 confounded with the nut of the tree Pistacia vera. Some resem- 

 blance, on the other hand, existing between the&e — as well as from 

 their being eaten by different nations, and used as an article of 

 food, and also for producing oil — rendered the true description 

 still more difficult. Botanists are, however, no longer at a loss, 

 having well established the nature and character of all these 

 plants. The Arachis " nut" partalies of the nature of the pea 

 or bean of our own country, and is a low annual plant of the order 

 Diadelpliia decandria of Linn. ; originally from Africa, but now 

 extensively cultivated in every quarter of the globe. It has been 

 naturalised in Europe, and with the climate of the South of 

 Prance it may be turned to good account. 



It has been said to be indigenous in Florida, Peru, Brazil, and 

 Surinam ; but the plant may be gro^ATi on a light sandy soil, under 

 a moderate heat, equal to that of Italy or the South of Trance. 

 The class to which it belongs approaches to the pea tribe ; but 

 its remarkable difference to this, as to the pulse we know as a bean, 

 is the circumstance of its introducing its fruit or pod — if we may 

 so call it — into the earth, for the purpose of ripening its seed. 

 The Arachis, or earth nut, has obtained its name from this operation. 

 The flowers, leaves, and stems are produced in the ordinary man- 

 ner we see in the pea tribe. When the yellow flower has withered 

 and the seed fertilised, there is nothing left but the bare stem 

 which had supported it. This stem, in which is the germ of the 

 future fruit and pod, now grows rapidly in a curved manner, with 

 a tendency to arrive shortly on the surface of the ground, into 

 which it penetrates this now naked stem, and sinks into the earth 

 several inches. It is in this obscure position that the fruit takes 

 its ripened form, and is either gathered from its hiding place or 

 left to the future season, when its time of rising into new ex- 

 istence calls it from what was thought its unnatural position. 



When mature, it is of a pale yellow color, wrinkled, and forms 

 an oblong pod, sometimes contracted in the middle ; it contains 

 generally two seeds. The nuts or peas are a valuable article of 

 food in the tropical parts of Africa, America, and Asia. They 

 are sweetish and almond-like, and yield an oil, when pressed, not 

 inferior in use and quality to that obtained from the olive. The 

 leaf resembles that of clover, and, like it, afi'ords excellent food for 

 cattle. The cake, after the oil is expressed, forms an excellent 

 manure. 



The Arachis is usually sown in dry, warm weather, from May to 

 June, and are placed at the distance of eighteen inches from each 

 other. Insects are fond of them ; and if the season is cold and 

 unfavorable to them, or the growth retarded, they become musty 

 and bad, or are eaten by insects. 



The mode of obtaining the oil is nearly the same as for other 

 pulse or seeds ; and under favorable circumstances the Arachis 

 will produce half its weight of oil. When heated and pressed the 

 quantity is very considerably increased. This oil is good for every 



