Plants annual or perennia. Leaves even-pinnate, with 4 leaflets; stipules partly adnate to the petioles. Inflorescences axillary, short, dense, sessile spikes or solitary flowers, primary and secondary bracts present. Flowers subsessile, with long, pedicel-like, receptacle; calyces 5-lobed; corollas yellow, often with red veins; stamens 8-10, filaments united, anthers alternately long and short; styles very long, filiform, soon breaking off. Pods oblong or sausage-shaped, with 1-few seeds, indehiscent, developing below the soil, being pushed there by the lengthening, reflexed, and stiffening gynophore.
Arachis is a South American genus of about 80 species. One species, Arachis hypogea, is widely cultivated in warmer parts of the world including Somalia and, probably, Somaliland.
Note: GBIF records include introduced and cultivated plants. Consequently, the distribution shown often differs from statements about a taxon's native distribution.