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Riverhemp

Sesbania

Also called Riverhemps

Riverhemp
Photo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0

Sesbania is a genus of about 60 accepted species of fast-growing legumes, known as riverhemp, found in tropical and subtropical regions. Several species, such as Sesbania sesban and S. rostrata, are grown for nitrogen-fixing soil improvement and some are aquatic, so give them moist to wet conditions and full sun.

Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Aquatic
Light
Full sun
Water
Keep soil consistently moist or grow in shallow standing water, especially for aquatic species.
Soil
Moist, fertile loam or clay; tolerates heavy soils.
Temperature
Warm tropical to subtropical conditions; frost-tender, protect below about 5 °C.
How easy
Easy

About

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.

Other Sesbania plants

Dunchi fiber · Sesbania · Vegetable hummingbird · Bigpod sesbania · Sesbania madagascariensis · Sesbania rostrata · Egyptian riverhemp

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sesbania by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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