Sesbania herbacea
Fl. Novo-Galiciana 5: 695. 1987.
Herbs, often woody at base, to 4.5 m. Stems sometimes with prickles along stem and leaf rachis, glabrous in age; pith spongy becoming septate. Leaves 10–30+ cm; stipules 1–1.1 mm, with inner fold throughout, inner fold and base with stipitate, multicellular glands; pulvinus at least 1/2 as long as petiole; rachis glabrous, with stipitate glands in canal at base of each leaflet pair; stipels narrow, ± glandular; leaflets 20–80+, blades rectangular to oblong, base obtuse, apex truncate to obtuse, surfaces usually glabrous. Peduncles (0.2–)1.6–1.9(–4.2) cm. Inflorescences 1–18+-flowered, racemes. Flowers (1–)1.4–1.5(–1.9) cm; calyx actinomorphic, lobes 5, subulate–acuminate, rim of tube glabrous or with short hairs inside, stalked glands absent; corolla yellow-orange, banner with purple-maroon spots on outer surface; banner ovate to obovate, base truncate, apex obtuse-retuse, calluses as shallow ridges or winglike along claw, callus apices truncate to rounded with lobes less than 2 mm; wings with basal tooth (short, blunt); keel yellow, apex purple or maroon, rounded-acute, curved upward to inward towards banner, with basal tooth; stamens strongly curved inward within keel; style recurved towards banner; ovules (12–)29–36(–51). Legumes brown, with maroon-red mottling, narrow-elongate, terete to elliptic in cross section, straight to falcate, (8.3–)16.9–19.4(–23.5) × 0.3(–0.4) cm, beak connate, narrowly tapered, (0.3–)0.6–0.8(–1.1) cm, tardily elastic dehiscent; stipe (0.2–)0.5(–0.7) mm. Seeds (12–)29–36(–51), green-brown to reddish, often with purple-black mottling, columnar.
Phenology: Flowering early summer–fall.
Habitat: Wet areas, riparian, wetlands, coastal, disturbed sites.
Elevation: 0–900 m.
Distribution
Ala., Ariz., Calif., Fla., Ga., Ill., Kans., Ky., La., Md., Mass., Miss., Mo., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Okla., Pa., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Va., Mexico (Baja California, Colima, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Sinaloa, Sonora), West Indies, Central America, South America.
Discussion
The range of Sesbania herbacea is expanding in North America and South America. It has been collected once in Ontario, as a waif.
Sesbania macrocarpa Muhlenberg ex Rafinesque is a superfluous illegitimate name that pertains here.
Selected References
None.