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Egyptian riverhemp

Sesbania sesban

Also called Egyptian Sesban, Sesban, Egyptian Rattle Pod, River Bean

Egyptian riverhemp
Photo: Francisco Manuel Blanco (O.S.A.), Public domain

Egyptian riverhemp (Sesbania sesban) is a fast-growing, nitrogen-fixing legume shrub or small tree from tropical Africa and Asia, grown mainly for fodder, fuelwood and soil improvement rather than as an ornamental. It is a species, not a genus, and it thrives in warm, seasonally dry climates with reasonable rainfall.

Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Tree, Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly while establishing, then tolerate seasonal dry spells once mature.
Soil
Tolerates loose sandy and heavy clay soils; well-drained soil preferred.
Temperature
Warm tropical conditions; frost-tender, protect below about 10 °C.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Trop. & S. Africa, Arabian Pen., Indian Subcontinent
Climate
seasonally dry tropical

About

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.

Synonyms include:

Where it grows

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.

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.

Other Sesbania plants

Dunchi fiber · Sesbania · Vegetable hummingbird · Bigpod sesbania · Sesbania madagascariensis · Sesbania rostrata · Riverhemp

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sesbania sesban 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.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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