[Avodah] Peanuts and other Kitnios

[Dov Bloom]

Danny Schoemann quoted his cousin's kuntras Dinei Kitnios B'Pesach (Adar 5767) and compared peanuts to canola (rapeseed).  He states:
>Peanuts:
>- Are apparently sometimes made into flour.
>- Machlokes if it grows on/in a Sharvit
>- Are not Midi D'Midgan
>Canola:
>- Are never made into flour as it's not edible (Avnei Nezer 373)
>- Do grow in/on a Sharvit
>- Are a Midi D'Midgan
>Clearly there's a case to forbid Canola and not Peanuts.

Peanuts - machloket if it grows on a sharvit? 

 Peanuts grow under the ground !! The nodules develop when a "peg" grows down from under the fertilized flower and goes underground. To harvest peanuts one uproots the entire plant including the roots and all the peanut nodules underground and one lets it dry somewhat above ground or by hanging the whole thing up if you just have a few plants (the plant shrivels up and the dirt dries up and falls off). Then you can collect and break the peanuts shells off of the plant. 

Note that none of the standard kitniot  grow underground .

If sharvit is a stalk (like in megilat Esther) like a classic grain with the seeds coming off the sides of the stalk - like wheat, barley, rye etc etc. I find it hard to believe that anyone who ever raised/picked/or-saw-a-pre-harvested-peanut-plant and post-harvested-peanut-plant and who saw how classic grains grow could claim peanuts grow on a sharvit. Millet and rice would be though. 

If sharvit is a pod (like in Rambam Hil Tumat Ochlin 5:9  - Sharvit Kitniot sherikno tahor) - it is still a stretch to call peanuts kitniot just because of the shell, because again, no oher kitniot that has pods develop underground.

There is however another criteria mentioned by poskim including rishonim: maaseh kedeira - dating back to the first source the Smak.

WRT canola - how can canola be a midi DMidgan? they are not staked in a kri!,Neither are they maase kdeira -who ever cooked a dish of rapeseed? Rapeseed is grown only for oil, and not for eating; canola is GE rapeseed.  So what is the case for calling canola pesach kitniot, I never got it. Anyway it is one of those new minhagim only a decade or 2 old at most so it shouldn't count for much as minhagim go. 

In general, other posters mentioned that 40-30-20 years ago peanut oil was "mehudar" for Pesach, so where was there a location in the US that one could claim in America they had an established minhag that it is kitniot?  See Mikraei Kodesh of RZP Frank -chief Rabbi of Jrusalem  helek bet Hil' Pesach 60:2

RMF tshuva about peanuts was mentioned by many posters, but no one mentioned Sridei Eish helek Bet Siman 37 (2) where he discusses 
peanut oil and is Matir, 

Also R David Tzvi Hoffman in Shut Melamed Leho'il helek aleph 88 discusses the botany and commercial production of peanuts, is matir peanut oil. He mentions that they grow in a sharvit (pod) but doesn't care and says that is like almonds which grow in a pod. 

Oops, maybe I shouldn't mention that because next year someone will start holding almonds to be kitniot and 20 years later it will gain a substantial following...

In general the criteria of sharvit for kitniot on pesach seems relatively new. Was it ever mentioned by a Rishon? The Smak who I think is the first Rishon to mention the minhag not to eat kitniot doesn't mention it.
Rabbenu Yerucham who criticized the minhag doesn't either, nor the Maharil.
It was I believe originated by the Taz OH 453 1 - only to explain why mustard is kitniot. If anyone knows of an earlier or independent reference of sharvit as a definitive criteria I would like to know of it. It was used as an independent criteria by chassidim (Avnei Nezer ). It doesn't seem to be such a universal criteria.