ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of hog peanuts. Once cultivated in southern US, hog peanuts have been suggested for planting in poultry forage systems and for intercropping with corn and perhaps ginseng. Amphicarpaea bracteata is said to merge imperceptibly with var. comosa, which grows on richer, often calcareous or alluvial soil. The large seeds appear beneath the dead leaves, generally just under the surface of the ground. In weed-free culture, the tangled vines can be raked off preparatory to harvest in fall. In loose sandy soil, the seeds separate out easily with a quarter inch screen. Harvested seed tend to germinate in the refrigerator, if not frozen. Both biomass and oil yields are low. The biomass raked up before harvesting could conceivably be converted to energy. The nitrogen fixed by the plant could be energetically important, in pastures, forests, and in intercropping scenarios.
