The

legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...

''Sesbania bispinosa'', also known as ''Sesbania aculeata'' (

Willd. Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was also ...

) Pers., is a small tree in the genus ''

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. Notable species include the rattlebox ('' Sesbania punicea''), spiny sesb ...

''. The flower is the provincial flower of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Names

The name Sesbania is taken from its Arabic name Siesaban "سيسبان". It is known by many common names, including danchi, dunchi, dhaincha, canicha, prickly sesban, jantar or spiny sesbania. In

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, it is called điên điển gai or điền thanh gai. In

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

, it is called ស្នោ (''Pka Snaô'').

Distribution and habitat

It is native to Asia and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, is most common in tropical Africa where it grows as a common

noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or liv ...

, and has been introduced to the Americas. It can grow on saline soil. ''S. bispinosa'' is adapted to wet, heavy soil but apparently adapts easily to drought-prone or sandy regions. It is cultivated widely in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and it is grown in rice paddies in

for use as firewood.

Description

It is an annual shrub which can grow to seven metres in height but usually only reaches one to two metres. It sends out fibrous, pithy stems with long leaves and bears purple-spotted yellow flowers. It produces pods which contain light brown beans.

Uses

The plant has a great number of uses, including as green manure, rice straw, wood and fodder. *It can be used like industrial hemp for rope, fish nets, sackcloth and sailcloth. Its fibers are similar to those of

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

trees and show promise as a source of

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...

fiber. *The foliage makes a good fodder for livestock and the beans can be fed to fowl. The plant has been also used as a

famine food A famine food or poverty food is any inexpensive or readily available food used to nourish people in times of hunger and starvation, whether caused by extreme poverty, such as during economic depression or war, or by natural disasters such as ...

by people. *

Natural gum Natural gums are polysaccharides of natural origin, capable of causing a large increase in a solution's viscosity, even at small concentrations. They are mostly botanical gums, found in the woody elements of plants or in seed coatings. Human u ...

from the plant is useful as a thickening agent. *Like other legumes, it can be planted to improve the soil via

nitrogen fixation Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process by which molecular nitrogen (), with a strong triple covalent bond, in the air is converted into ammonia () or related nitrogenous compounds, typically in soil or aquatic systems but also in industry. Atmo ...

. *It makes a good firewood.

Culinary uses

The yellow flowers of ''S. aculeata'' are eaten as a vegetable in Southeast Asia. They are much smaller than the more popular white flowers of ''Sesbania grandiflora'', but similar in shape. Still, they are appreciated as food in

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

and

Vietnamese cuisine Vietnamese cuisine encompasses the foods and beverages of Vietnam. Meals feature a combination of five fundamental tastes ( vi, ngũ vị, links=no, label=none): sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and spicy. The distinctive nature of each dish reflec ...

. In the Thai language the flowers are called ดอกโสน ''(dok sanō)''. They are used in Thai cuisine both cooked and raw, they can also be used to make omelettes and sweets. Sweets - "ขนมดอกโสน" (kanom dok sanō)
/ref>

Images

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
*
JSTOR: Sesbania spp. in Two Agro-Forestry Systems in Vietnam
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q3480581, from2=Q105620071 Faboideae Fiber plants Inflorescence vegetables Trees of Thailand Flora of Vietnam