''Sesbania sesban'', the Egyptian riverhemp, is a species of plant in the legume family, a fast growing species, it has four varieties that are currently recognized.

Synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

s include: *''Aeschynomene aegyptiaca'' (Pers.) Steud. *''Aeschynomene sesban'' L. *''Emerus sesban'' ( L.) Kuntze *''Sesbania aegyptiaca'' Poir.

Description

A perennial shrub or small tree that grows up to 6 m tall sometimes reaching 8 m. It has paripinnately compound leaves with between 6-27 pairs of linear to oblong leaflets per pinnae; the leaves and

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the ''rachi ...

tend to be pilose. Flowers are yellow in color with brown and purple streaks on the corolla.

Distribution and habitat

''Sesbania sesban'' occurs widely in tropical East and West Africa, in Southern Africa and in Asia. Commonly found on a variety of soil types including loose sandy soil and clay soil, it grows in areas with annual rainfall of between 500-2000 mm.

Infraspecies

* ''Sesbania sesban'' var. ''bicolor'' (Wight & Arn.) F.W.Andrews * ''Sesbania sesban'' var. ''nubica'' Chiov. * ''Sesbania sesban'' subsp. ''punctata'' (DC.) J.B.Gillett * ''Sesbania sesban'' subsp. ''sesban''

Uses

''Sesbania sesban'' is a nitrogen-fixing tree and may be useful in alley cropping. It is also used as a fodder crop and source of fuel wood.

References

Relevant literature

*Ramni Jamnadass, Jean Hanson, Jane Poole, Olivier Hanotte, Tony J. Simons, Ian K. Dawson. High differentiation among populations of the woody legume Sesbania sesban in sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for conservation and cultivation during germplasm introduction into agroforestry systems. ''Forest Ecology and Management'' Volume 210, Issues 1–3, 2005, Pages 225–238, ISSN 0378-1127, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2005.02.033.

External links

Faboideae Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Faboideae-stub