Sesbania bispinosa

Sesbania bispinosa

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Tribe:	Robinieae
Genus:	Sesbania
Species:	Sesbania bispinosa
Binomial name
*Sesbania bispinosa* (Jacq.) W. Wight
Synonyms
Sesbania aculeata (Willd.) Pers. 1807

The legume Sesbania bispinosa, also known as Sesbania aculeata (Willd.) Pers., is a small tree in the genus Sesbania.

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

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

Distribution and habitat

It is native to Asia and North Africa, is most common in tropical Africa where it grows as a common noxious weed, 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 and it is grown in rice paddies in Vietnam 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.^[1]

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 trees and show promise as a source of paper 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 by people.
Natural gum from the plant is useful as a thickening agent.
Like other legumes, it can be planted to improve the soil via nitrogen fixation.
It makes a good firewood.
The beans have historically been used in poultices to treat ringworm and other skin infections.

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 and Vietnamese cuisine.^[2]

In the Thai language the flowers are called ดอกโสน (dok sanō). They are used in Thai cuisine both cooked and raw,^[3] they can also be used to make omelettes^[4] and sweets. ^[5]

Images

View of a bush growing by a canal

Gỏi tép đồng và bông điên điển, a Vietnamese dish using Sesbania bispinosa flowers

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sesbania bispinosa.

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