Taxonomía del género Arachis (Leguminosae)

Almost 100 years elapsed between Linnaeus' naming the then lone species of Arachis (A. hypogaea L.), known to Europeans, and the first taxonomic treatment of the genus by Benthamin 1841. During the next 100 years five to ten additional species descriptions appeared,assigning different species to the same names,different names to the same species. By mid20th century, it was impossible to examine anyherbarium collection of Arachis and assign any epithet with any assurance to any specimen (which was not a type collection) except to A. hypogaea, A. guaranitica, A. tuberosa and A. villosulicarpa. In our treatment the Iiterature of this botanical chaos in Arachis is reviewed in detail and an assessment is made of…