Sheryl Simpson, age 11, of Westbrook, Me., for her question:

HOW DOES THE PEANUT GROW?

In warm climates you'll find the peanut plant, an annual which grows about two and a half feet high and from three to four feet across. There are two main types of plants: the bunch type which grows upright, and the runner type which spreads out on or near the ground as it grows.

Peanut plants bear many small, yellow, pealike flowers for two or three months. The flower buds open at sunrise and fertilization takes place during the morning, with flowers then withering and dying about noon. Within a few days the stalklike stems of the pods called pegs begin to grow. The pegs grow downward and push into the soil to a depth of one to three inches. The tips of the pegs contain the developing seeds. They swell and mature into peanut pods.