Sesbania
Template:Short description Template:Automatic taxobox
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.<ref>Template:PLANTS</ref> 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.
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.<ref name = powo/> The largest number of species are found in Africa, and the remainder in Australia, Hawaii, and Asia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>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, Template:ISBN</ref>
List of species
60 species are accepted,<ref name = powo/> organized into three sections:<ref name="Farruggia">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Section Glottidium (Desvaux) Lavin
- Sesbania vesicaria (Jacq.) Elliott
Section Daubentonia (DC.) Bentham
- Sesbania drummondii (Rydb.) Cory
- Sesbania cavanillesii S.Watson
- Sesbania macroptera Template:Small
- Sesbania punicea (Cav.) Benth. – rattlebox
- Sesbania virgata (Cav.) Poir. – wand riverhemp
Section Sesbania Adans.
- Sesbania benthamiana Template:Small
- Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W.Wight
- Sesbania brachycarpa Template:Small
- Sesbania brevipeduncula Template:Small
- Sesbania campylocarpa Template:Small
- Sesbania cannabina (Retz.) Poir.
- Sesbania chippendalei Template:Small
- Sesbania cinerascens Template:Small
- Sesbania coccinea Template:Small
- Sesbania coerulescens Template:Small
- Sesbania concolor Template:Small
- Sesbania dalzielii Template:Small
- Sesbania dummeri Template:Small
- Sesbania erubescens Template:Small
- Sesbania exasperata Template:Small
- Sesbania formosa Template:Small
- Sesbania goetzei Template:Small
- Sesbania grandiflora (L.) Poir.
- Sesbania greenwayi Template:Small
- Sesbania hepperi Template:Small
- Sesbania herbacea (Mill.) McVaugh – bigpod sesbania
- Sesbania hirtistyla Template:Small
- Sesbania hobdyi Template:Small
- Sesbania javanica Template:Small
- Sesbania keniensis Template:Small
- Sesbania leptocarpa Template:Small
- Sesbania macowaniana Template:Small
- Sesbania macrantha Template:Small
- Sesbania madagascariensis Template:Small
- Sesbania mannii Template:Small
- Sesbania melanocaulis Template:Small
- Sesbania microphylla Template:Small
- Sesbania mossambicensis Template:Small
- Sesbania notialis Template:Small
- Sesbania oligosperma Template:Small
- Sesbania pachycarpa Template:Small
- Sesbania paucisemina Template:Small
- Sesbania procumbens Template:Small
- Sesbania quadrata Template:Small
- Sesbania rostrata Template:Small
- Sesbania sericea (Willd.) Link – papagayo
- Sesbania sesban (L.) Merr. – Egyptian riverhemp
- Sesbania simpliciuscula Template:Small
- Sesbania somaliensis Template:Small
- Sesbania speciosa Template:Small
- Sesbania sphaerosperma Template:Small
- Sesbania subalata Template:Small
- Sesbania sudanica Template:Small
- Sesbania tetraptera Template:Small
- Sesbania tomentosa Hook. & Arn. – Ōhai (Hawaii)
- Sesbania transvaalensis J.B.Gillett
- Sesbania burbidgeae Template:Small
- Sesbania emerus (Aubl.) Urban – coffeebean
- Sesbania longifolia Template:Small
- Sesbania marchionica Template:Small
- Sesbania muelleri Template:Small
- Sesbania uliginosa Template:Small
- Sesbania wildemannii Template:Small
Phylogeny
Modern molecular phylogenetics suggest the following relationships between the species of Sesbania:<ref name="Farruggia"/>