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Fabaceae FAMILY

Sesbania herbacea

Sesbania herbacea

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

The seeds may be poisonous[1]. The seeds contain saponins and other toxic compounds that cause severe diarrhoea and internal hemorrhaging[2]. Although poisonous, saponins also have a range of medicinal applications and many saponin-rich plants are used in herbalism (particularly as emetics, expectorants and febrifuges) or as sources of raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry. Saponins are also found in a number of common foods, such as many beans. Saponins have a quite bitter flavour and are in general poorly absorbed by the human body, so most pass through without harm. They can be removed by carefully leaching in running water. Thorough cooking, and perhaps changing the cooking water once, will also normally remove most of them. However, it is not advisable to eat large quantities of raw foods that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to many cold-blooded creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish and make them easy to catch[PFAF].

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual/Perennial
GrowthFast

Sesbania herbacea is not very cold tolerant, being killed by light frosts. In frost-free regions the plant perennates with a main stem that often becomes woody with age[3]. It grows best in regions with hot summers and low humidity[3]. Grows best in a sunny position. Grows well in alluvial clay soils[3]. Requires a moist soil for best growth and can tolerate some flooding once it reaches seedling stage[3]. Established plants are drought tolerant[3]. Succeeds in soils with a pH in the range 4.5 - 7.2[3]. A fast-growing species, it can commence flowering just 45 - 50 days after sowing and continue to produce seed for a long period[3]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[4].

Propagation

Seed - it has a hard seedcoat and benefits from scarification before sowing in order to speed up and improve germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Sesbania+herbacea>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas — Diggs, Jnr. G.M.; Lipscomb. B. L. & O'Kennon. R. J · Botanical Research Institute, Texas. · 1999 · http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/bio/gdiggs/NCTXpdf.htm · ISBN 1-889878-01-4 ↩︎An excellent flora, which is also available on-line.
  2. [2]Flora of Missouri — Yatskievych G. (Director) · Missouri Botanical Garden; Missouri · http://www.tropicos.org/projectwebportal.aspx?pagename=Home&projectid=23 ↩︎An on-line resource, based on the three volume work 'Flora of Missouri', published from 1999 - 2013.
  3. [3]Plants Database — United States Department of Agriculture · http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet ↩︎An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants.
  4. [4]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  5. [5]Gray's Manual of Botany.Eighth Edition — Fernald. M. L. · American Book Co.; New York · 1950 · ISBN 0442222505 ↩︎A bit dated but a good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.
  6. [6]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  7. [7]A Weavers Garden — Buchanan. R. · McGraw-Hill Contemporary · 1987 · ISBN 0934026289 ↩︎Covers all aspects of growing your own clothes, from fibre plants to dyes.
  8. [8]Economic Botany. — Hill. A. F. · The Maple Press · 1952 · ISBN - ↩︎Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some detail about the plants it does cover.
  9. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎