Question

Geocarpic fruit is
(a)Potato
(b)Peanut
(c)Onion
(d)Garlic

Answer 1

Hint: These plants involve the infrequent type of reproduction which produces fruits within the soil. They are widely grown in tropics and subtropics and also require less nitrogen-containing fertilizers because it can fix the atmospheric nitrogen.

Complete answer:
Peanut is a geocarpic fruit that involves the production and ripening of fruit under the surface of the soil. Peanut is taxonomically classified as Arachis hypogaea. Peanut belongs to the Fabaceae family which is classified as both legume crop and oil crop because it produces edible seeds with high oil content. It also improves the soil fertility. Geocarpic is an extremely rare type of plant reproduction in which plants produce diaspores under the soil.

Additional information:
-Geocarpy has developed as an effective method for ensuring a suitable environment for the plant's offspring.
-Geocarpy may happen in subterranean flowers or from aerial flowers where flowers penetrate the soil.
-These plants bend their stems with the purpose that fruit can be embedded in the soil during the freezing process whereas the fruit is still attached to the plant itself.
-It is most frequently found in tropical or semi-desert areas.
-Geocarpic species are found in the various families like Araceae, Brassicaceae, Begoniaceae, Callitrichaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Convolvulaceae, Leguminosae, Loganiaceae, Moraceae, and Rubiaceae.
-Geocarpy has grown as an effective means of ensuring a suitable environment for the plant's progeny.

Figure: Structure of peanut plant

So, the correct answer is ‘peanut’.

Note:
-Diaspore in plants consists of a dispersal unit that involves a seed or spore with additional tissues. This dispersal unit helps in dispersal.
-Peanuts anchorage symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria found in root nodules.