New species of <i>Arachís</i> (Leguminosae) from Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia

Abstract

Eleven new species of Arachís L. (Leguminosae) are described, representing seven of the nine taxonomic sections of the genus. Eight of the new species were referred to, and classified, in the monograph of Krapovickas and Gregory, but are now treated with their own specific epithet; one species had been collected before 1994, but the material was in sufficient doubt to not be mentioned in the Monograph, and two species were collected  after that monograph was submitted  for  publication.  The  description  of  these  eleven  species  will  help  clarify  the systematics of the genus Arachís, as well as aid in our understanding of the evolutionary path of certain important materials. Some of these may have played a role in developments which lead to the origin of the cultivated peanut