Sesbania

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.^[2] 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.

Sesbania
Sesbania drummondii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Clade:	Meso-Papilionoideae
Clade:	Non-protein amino acid-accumulating clade
Clade:	Hologalegina
Clade:	Robinioids
Tribe:	Sesbanieae Hutch.
Genus:	Sesbania Adans. (1763), nom. & orth. cons.
Species[1]
60; see text
Synonyms[1]
Agati Adans. (1763), nom. rej. Darwinia Raf. (1817), nom. illeg. Daubentonia DC. (1826) Daubentoniopsis Rydb. (1923) Glottidium Desv.(1813) Monoplectra Raf. (1817) Resupinaria Raf. (1838) Sesban Adans. (1763), orth. var.

Sesbania cannabina

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.^[1] The largest number of species are found in Africa, and the remainder in Australia, Hawaii, and Asia.^[3]

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.^[4]

List of species

60 species are accepted,^[1] organized into three sections:^[5]

Section Glottidium (Desvaux) Lavin

• Sesbania vesicaria (Jacq.) Elliott

Section Daubentonia (DC.) Bentham

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

Section Sesbania Adans.

• Sesbania benthamiana Domin
• Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W.Wight
• Sesbania brachycarpa F.Muell.
• Sesbania brevipeduncula J.B.Gillett
• Sesbania campylocarpa (Domin) N.T.Burb.
• Sesbania cannabina (Retz.) Poir.
• Sesbania chippendalei N.T.Burb.
• Sesbania cinerascens Welw. ex Baker
• Sesbania coccinea (L.f.) Poir.
• Sesbania coerulescens Harms
• Sesbania concolor J.B.Gillett
• Sesbania dalzielii E.Phillips & Hutch.
• Sesbania dummeri E.Phillips & Hutch.
• Sesbania erubescens (Benth.) N.T.Burb.
• Sesbania exasperata Kunth
• Sesbania formosa (F.Muell.) N.T.Burb.
• Sesbania goetzei Harms
• Sesbania grandiflora (L.) Poir.
• Sesbania greenwayi J.B.Gillett
• Sesbania hepperi J.B.Gillett
• Sesbania herbacea (Mill.) McVaugh – bigpod sesbania
• Sesbania hirtistyla J.B.Gillett
• Sesbania hobdyi O.Deg. & I.Deg.
• Sesbania javanica Miq.
• Sesbania keniensis J.B.Gillett
• Sesbania leptocarpa DC.
• Sesbania macowaniana Schinz
• Sesbania macrantha Welw. ex E.Phillips & Hutch.
• Sesbania madagascariensis Du Puy & Labat
• Sesbania mannii Sachet
• Sesbania melanocaulis Bidgood & Friis
• Sesbania microphylla Harm.
• Sesbania mossambicensis Klotzsch
• Sesbania notialis J.B.Gillett
• Sesbania oligosperma Taub.
• Sesbania pachycarpa DC.
• Sesbania paucisemina J.B.Gillett
• Sesbania procumbens Wright & Arn.
• Sesbania quadrata J.B.Gillett
• Sesbania rostrata Bremek. & Oberm.
• Sesbania sericea (Willd.) Link – papagayo
• Sesbania sesban (L.) Merr. – Egyptian riverhemp
• Sesbania simpliciuscula F.Muell. ex Benth.
• Sesbania somaliensis J.B.Gillett
• Sesbania speciosa Taub. ex Engl.
• Sesbania sphaerosperma Welw.
• Sesbania subalata J.B.Gillett
• Sesbania sudanica J.B.Gillett
• Sesbania tetraptera Hochst. ex Baker
• Sesbania tomentosa Hook. & Arn. – Ōhai (Hawaii)
• Sesbania transvaalensis J.B.Gillett

Incertae Sedis

• Sesbania burbidgeae C.L.Gross
• Sesbania emerus (Aubl.) Urban – coffeebean
• Sesbania longifolia DC.
• Sesbania marchionica F.Br.
• Sesbania muelleri C.L.Gross
• Sesbania uliginosa (Roxb.) G.Don
• Sesbania wildemannii E.Phillips

Phylogeny

Modern molecular phylogenetics suggest the following relationships between the species of Sesbania:^[5]

Loteae (outgroup) Sesbania New World Clade Sect. Glottidium Sesbania vesicaria Sect. Daubentonia Sesbania cavanillesii Sesbania drummondii Sesbania punicea Sesbania macroptera Sesbania virgata Pantropical Clade Sesbania herbacea Sesbania cannabina Sesbania sericea Sesbania tomentosa Sesbania rostrata Sesbania sphaerosperma Sesbania brevipedunculata Sesbania pachycarpa Sesbania coerulescens Sesbania macrantha Sesbania cinerascens Sesbania leptocarpa Sesbania transvaalensis Sesbania macowaniana Sesbania exasperata Sesbania oligosperma Sesbania bispinosa Sesbania dalzielii Sesbania sudanica Sesbania somalensis Sesbania quadrata Sesbania subalata Sesbania hirtistyla Sesbania tetraptera Sesbania greenwayi Sesbania hobdyi Sesbania microphylla Sesbania campylocarpa Sesbania grandiflora Sesbania formosa Sesbania brachycarpa Sesbania chippendalei Sesbania dummeri Sesbania goatzei Sesbania keniensis Sesbania madagascariensis Sesbania melanocaulis Sesbania sesban Sect. Sesbania

References

1. Sesbania Adans. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
2. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "​Sesbania​". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
3. "The distribution of Sesbania species in the PANESA region". fao.org.
4. 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, ISBN 0 947643 40 0
5. Farruggia FT, Lavin M, Wojciechowski MF (2018). "Phylogenetic Systematics and Biogeography of the Pantropical Genus Sesbania (Leguminosae)". Systematic Botany. 43 (2): 414–429. doi:10.1600/036364418X697175.

External links

• Data related to Sesbania at Wikispecies
• Media related to Sesbania at Wikimedia Commons