Egyptian riverhemp
Sesbania sesban (L.) Merr.
Sesbania (Sesbania sesban) is a legume-family shrub of floodplains; its yellow drooping flower clusters are cooked in sour soup and salads — a Mekong Delta flood-season speciality; the nitrogen-fixing plant improves soil.
No ratings yet — be the first!
Gallery
Sesbania — Flowering branchSesbania — Plant
Sesbania — Leaves & flowers
Sesbania — Flowers
Sesbania — Flowers (2)
Sesbania — Pods & seedsSesbania — Flowering branchSesbania — PlantOverview
Sesbania (Sesbania sesban), also called Egyptian riverhemp or common sesban, is a shrub or small tree of the legume family (Fabaceae) of moist, riverine habitats in the tropics. It is perennial, grows 2–6 m tall, with sparsely hairy stems and flexible branches. The pinnate leaves, 10–20 cm long, consist of many small opposite oblong leaflets. The pea-like flowers, orange-yellow to red-orange, hang in drooping clusters from the leaf axils; during the flood season the fields blaze yellow with them. The fruit is a long, slender, slightly curved pod with many small brown seeds; the young pods are also edible. In Vietnam, the flowers are a famous speciality of the Mekong Delta: people gather them to cook sour soup with fish, make salads, or boil them with dipping sauce. The plant also fixes nitrogen through root nodules and is grown as a green manure that improves soil along field edges; roots, leaves and flowers are used in folk medicine.
Life cycle
From seed to productPlant
https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Starr-151123-3009-Sesbania_sesban-flowers_leaves_stems-Pono_Grown_Farm_Center_Olinda-Maui_%2826283780215%29.jpg/1920px-Starr-151123-3009-Sesbania_sesban-flowers_leaves_stems-Pono_Grown_Farm_Center_Olinda-Maui_%2826283780215%29.jpg
Leaves & flowers
https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Starr-151123-2998-Sesbania_sesban-flowers_leaves_stem-Pono_Grown_Farm_Center_Olinda-Maui_%2826217507681%29.jpg/1920px-Starr-151123-2998-Sesbania_sesban-flowers_leaves_stem-Pono_Grown_Farm_Center_Olinda-Maui_%2826217507681%29.jpg
Flowers
https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Sesbania_sesban_flowers.jpg/1920px-Sesbania_sesban_flowers.jpg
Pods
https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Starr-151123-3010-Sesbania_sesban-seeds_in_pods-Pono_Grown_Farm_Center_Olinda-Maui_%2826191345462%29.jpg/1920px-Starr-151123-3010-Sesbania_sesban-seeds_in_pods-Pono_Grown_Farm_Center_Olinda-Maui_%2826191345462%29.jpg
Distribution & origin
Share of recorded occurrences by region- Asia (India, Southeast Asia)45%
- Tropical Africa25%
- Australia & Oceania10%
- Middle East10%
- Other regions10%
Chemical composition
Relative content in agarwood resin- Water88%
- Carbohydrates6%
- Fibre2.5%
- Protein2%
- Minerals & vitamins1%
- Fat0.5%
Uses
- Cuisine: flowers cooked in sour soup with fish, salads, boiled with dipping sauce or stir-fried — a flood-season speciality of the Mekong Delta
- Agriculture: fixes nitrogen; grown as green manure, soil improver and shade; stems and leaves used as fodder
- Folk medicine: roots, leaves and flowers used for eye complaints, cough and fever; in India used as a tonic and for inflammation
- Other: light wood for firewood and crafts; planted along fields as a windbreak and for erosion control
Properties
- Form
- Shrub / small tree
- Flower
- Orange-yellow, drooping
- Use
- Flowers in sour soup; soil improvement
- Season
- Blooms in the flood season
Habitat & conservation
Sesbania is a moisture-loving shrub or small tree widely distributed in the tropics of Africa, Asia and Oceania, commonly growing along rivers, field edges and in swamps, and tolerating floods. Its root nodules fix nitrogen, so it is grown as a green manure that improves soil. In Vietnam it is common in the Mekong Delta; in the flood season people gather the flowers to cook sour soup and make salads.
Conservation
A widely distributed species, not yet assessed by IUCN (NE). Legume family (Fabaceae), genus Sesbania.
References
- 1Plants of the World Online — Sesbania sesban (L.) Merr. — Kew Science, 2026
- 2Sesbania sesban — mô tả, phân bố, sử dụng — Wikipedia tiếng Anh, 2026
- 3Điên điển — đặc điểm, công dụng — Wikipedia tiếng Việt, 2026
- 4印度田菁 Sesbania sesban — 形態、用途 — Wikipedia tiếng Trung, 2026
- 5Nguồn ảnh: Forest and Kim Starr (CC BY 3.0) / Dinesh Valke (CC BY-SA 2.0) — Wikimedia Commons,
- 6Nguồn ảnh: Renjusplace (CC BY-SA 4.0) — Wikimedia Commons,