General Description/History

• An annual plant in the pea family that is native to South America
• Peanuts are not true nuts: they are found underground when ripe and are technically called a woody legume
• Each legume has a rough light brown coat, is hour glass shaped and contains 2 and sometimes 3 or 4 nuts
• The nuts do develop from fertilised flowers, but mature underground
• Nuts have a reddish brown edible seed coat, are elongated and about 1 cm long
• There are thousands of different peanut cultivars
• Peanuts are the most consumed nut
• Most are eaten ‘raw’ after roasting, but there are many peanut-based products, such as peanut butter, peanut oil and confectionary
• Some people can suffer severe allergic reactions to peanuts and their products
• Most supplies are imported, but nuts are grown in Australia in Queensland, northern NSW and the Northern Territory
• Available: all year; Australian crops are harvested from February to June

Season: Summer,Autumn,Winter,Spring

Botanical Name: Arachis hypogaea (Fabeaceae)

Alternative Names: 

Availablity: January,February,March,April,May,June,July,August,September,October,November,December

Growing Areas: 

QLD – Queensland
NSW – Northern New South Wales
NT – Northern Territory