Rostrate sesbania
Sesbania rostrata
Family: Fabaceae
What it is like
An annual herb. It grows 1.5 m high. It is softly woody. It can live for a few years. The stems are 15 mm thick. The leaves have 12-22 pairs of leaflets along the stalk. These are 3 cm long and 6 mm wide. There are 3-15 flowers in a group. They are yellow. The fruit is a curved pod 15-22 cm long. It has a slender beak. The seeds are oval and 4 mm long by 3 mm wide. They are brown with small purple dots.
It is used as a green cover crop in rice paddies. It is a trap crop for insects in soybean crops.
Where it is found
It is a tropical plant. It appears in the rainy season along roadsides in West Africa. It grows in wet and muddy places along flood plains. It can grow in water up to 1 m deep for a time. It grows between 500-1,200 m above sea level. It can grow in soils with a pH between 5.5 to slightly alkaline. It grows best with temperatures above 25°C.
Countries/locations it is found in
Africa, Angola, Asia, Bangladesh, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Congo, Congo DR, East Africa, Ethiopia, India, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Philippines, SE Asia, Senegal, Southern Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe
How it is used for food
The flower is eaten raw.
Edible parts
Seeds - flavouring, flowers, leaves
How it is grown
Plants can be grown from seeds or cuttings. Cuttings grow most quickly and cuttings 30 cm long are suitable. The seeds can have a hard seed coat so need to be put in hot water (80°C) for 5 minutes. Alternatively the seed coat can be scratched. Plants can be cut back and allowed to re-grow. It can be grown amongst corn. Seeds are produced when the daylength is less than 11 hours. The bacteria to form nodules is Azorhizobium caulinodans. When these are present it fixes large amounts of nitrogen. They could be collected from old plants with nodules that are red inside.
Its other names
Local names
Jantar, Ngapay, Sano african, Sindin, Tamechmarit
Synonyms
Sesbania pachycarpa DC.;