Sesbania Explained

Sesbania is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, and the only genus found in tribe Sesbanieae. Riverhemp is a common name for plants in this genus. Notable species include the rattlebox (Sesbania punicea), spiny sesbania (Sesbania bispinosa), and Sesbania sesban, which is used in cooking. Plants of this genus, some of which are aquatic, can be used in alley cropping to increase the soil's nitrogen content. The species of rhizobia responsible for nitrogen fixation in Sesbania rostrata is Azorhizobium caulinodans.

Some 60 species are currently accepted, with about 39 still unresolved. The genus is native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, in the Americas from the southern United States to northern Argentina, in sub-Saharan Africa, in southern Asia, and in New Guinea, Australia, and the Pacific. The largest number of species are found in Africa, and the remainder in Australia, Hawaii, and Asia.^[1]

Fossil record

Fossil seed pods from the upper Oligocene resembling Sesbania have been found in the Hungarian locality of Eger Wind-brickyard. The fossil species grew in a swampy and riparian environment.^[2]

List of species

60 species are accepted, organized into three sections:^[3]

Section Glottidium (Desvaux) Lavin

Sesbania vesicaria (Jacq.) Elliott

Section Daubentonia (DC.) Bentham

Sesbania drummondii (Rydb.) Cory
Sesbania cavanillesii S.Watson
Sesbania macroptera
Sesbania punicea (Cav.) Benth. – rattlebox
Sesbania virgata (Cav.) Poir. – wand riverhemp

Section Sesbania Adans.

Sesbania benthamiana
Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W.Wight
Sesbania brachycarpa
Sesbania brevipeduncula
Sesbania campylocarpa
Sesbania cannabina (Retz.) Poir.
Sesbania chippendalei
Sesbania cinerascens
Sesbania coccinea
Sesbania coerulescens
Sesbania concolor
Sesbania dalzielii
Sesbania dummeri
Sesbania erubescens
Sesbania exasperata
Sesbania formosa
Sesbania goetzei
Sesbania grandiflora (L.) Poir.
Sesbania greenwayi
Sesbania hepperi
Sesbania herbacea (Mill.) McVaugh – bigpod sesbania
Sesbania hirtistyla
Sesbania hobdyi
Sesbania javanica
Sesbania keniensis
Sesbania leptocarpa
Sesbania macowaniana
Sesbania macrantha
Sesbania madagascariensis
Sesbania mannii
Sesbania melanocaulis
Sesbania microphylla
Sesbania mossambicensis
Sesbania notialis
Sesbania oligosperma
Sesbania pachycarpa

Sesbania paucisemina
Sesbania procumbens

Sesbania quadrata
Sesbania rostrata

Sesbania sericea (Willd.) Link – papagayo
Sesbania sesban (L.) Merr. – Egyptian riverhemp
Sesbania simpliciuscula
Sesbania somaliensis
Sesbania speciosa
Sesbania sphaerosperma
Sesbania subalata
Sesbania sudanica
Sesbania tetraptera
Sesbania tomentosa Hook. & Arn. – Ōhai (Hawaii)
Sesbania transvaalensis J.B.Gillett

Incertae Sedis

Sesbania burbidgeae
Sesbania emerus (Aubl.) Urban – coffeebean
Sesbania longifolia
Sesbania marchionica
Sesbania muelleri
Sesbania uliginosa
Sesbania wildemannii

Phylogeny

Modern molecular phylogenetics suggest the following relationships between the species of Sesbania:^[3]

Notes and References

Web site: The distribution of Sesbania species in the PANESA region. fao.org.
Distribution of Legumes in the Tertiary of Hungary by L. Hably, Advances in Legume Systematics: Part 4, The Fossil Record, Ed. P.S. Herendeen & Dilcher, 1992, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,
Farruggia FT, Lavin M, Wojciechowski MF . 2018 . Phylogenetic Systematics and Biogeography of the Pantropical Genus Sesbania (Leguminosae) . Systematic Botany . 43 . 2 . 414–429 . 10.1600/036364418X697175.