Taxon: Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W. Wight

Summary

Genus:

Sesbania

Family:

Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)

Subfamily:

Faboideae

Tribe:

Sesbanieae

Nomen number:

33761

Place of publication:

Bull. Bur. Pl. Industr. U.S.D.A. 137:15. 1909

Protologue link:

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51002744

Comment:

often wrongly used for the cult., fiber-yielding Sesbania cannabina

Verified:

02/18/2005 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

13 (4 active, 3 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W. Wight var. bispinosa (0 active accession[s])
Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W. Wight var. micrantha (Chiov.) J. B. Gillett (0 active accession[s])

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Aeschynomene aculeata Schreb.

Images (2 total. Click on image for more.)

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica Note: lists as Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) Fawcett & Rendle
Aubréville, A. et al., eds. 1960-. Flore du Cambodge du Laos et du Viet-Nam.
Bosser, J. M. et al., eds. 1976-. Flores des Mascareignes.
Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
Du Puy, D. J. et al. 2002. The Leguminosae of Madagascar
Duke, J. A. 1981. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance
Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage Note: lists as Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) Steud. ex W. Wight; = S. cannabina
Evans, D. 1988. pers. comm. Note: may be synonymous with Sesbania cannabina
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
Gillett, J. B. 1963. Sesbania in Africa (excluding Madagascar) and southern Arabia. Kew Bull. 17:129.
Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles. Note: introd.
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953-1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2.
Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
Labat, J.-N. & D. J. Du Puy. 1997. New species and varieties in Sesbania (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae- Robinieae) from Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. Adansonia 19:94.
Lock, J. M. & C. S. Ford. 2004. Legumes of Malesia: a checklist
Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. 1994. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist
Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
Matthew, K. M. 1983. The flora of the Tamilnadu Carnatic.
Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
National Academy of Sciences. 1980. Firewood crops. Shrub and tree species for energy production
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
Rudd, V. E. 1955. The American species of Aeschynomene. Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 32:132. Note: lists as Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) Spreng. ex Steud., pro syn.
Sanjappa, M. 1992. Legumes of India
Smith, A. C. 1979-1991. Flora vitiensis nova.
Townsend, C. C. & E. Guest. 1966-. Flora of Iraq. Note: mentions
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Zhu, X. Y. et al. 2007. Legumes of China: a checklist

Common names

Language	Name	Alternate name	note	seq	Citation
English	prickly sesban			1	National Academy of Sciences. 1980. Firewood crops. Shrub and tree species for energy production

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Kenya			Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Tanzania			Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Somalia			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Mozambique			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	Western Indian Ocean	Madagascar			Du Puy, D. J. et al. 2002. The Leguminosae of Madagascar
1	Native	Africa	Western Indian Ocean	Mauritius			Bosser, J. M. et al., eds. 1976-. Flores des Mascareignes.
1	Native	Africa	Western Indian Ocean	Reunion			Bosser, J. M. et al., eds. 1976-. Flores des Mascareignes.
1	Native	Africa	Western Indian Ocean	Seychelles			Bosser, J. M. et al., eds. 1976-. Flores des Mascareignes.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Guangdong Sheng		Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Guangxi Zhuangzu Zizhiqu		Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Hainan Sheng		Zhu, X. Y. et al. 2007. Legumes of China: a checklist
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Sichuan Sheng		Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Yunnan Sheng		Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Afghanistan		e.	Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Iran		s.	Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Bangladesh			Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Andhra Pradesh		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Arunachal Pradesh		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Bihar		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Dadra and Nagar Haveli		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Daman and Diu		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Delhi		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Goa		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Gujarat		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Haryana		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Jammu and Kashmir		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Karnataka		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Kerala		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Madhya Pradesh		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Maharashtra		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Odisha		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Punjab		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Rajasthan		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Tamil Nadu		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Tripura		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Uttar Pradesh		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	West Bengal		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Nepal			Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Pakistan			Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Sri Lanka			Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Cambodia			Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. 1994. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Laos			Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. 1994. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Myanmar			Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. 1994. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Thailand			Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. 1994. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Vietnam			Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. 1994. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist
4	Naturalized	Africa	Southern Africa	Botswana			Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
4	Naturalized	Africa	Southern Africa	Eswatini			Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
4	Naturalized	Africa	Southern Africa	Namibia			Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
4	Naturalized	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	KwaZulu-Natal		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
4	Naturalized	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Limpopo		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
4	Naturalized	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Mpumalanga		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
4	Naturalized	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	North-West		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Antigua and Barbuda			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Aruba			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Barbados			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Cuba			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Hispaniola			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Jamaica			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Netherlands Antilles			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Puerto Rico		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Southern South America	Argentina	Jujuy		Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Southern South America	Argentina	Salta		Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
6	Other					exact native range obscure

Native
Africa

NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Somalia
EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania
SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Mozambique
WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles

Asia-Temperate

WESTERN ASIA: Afghanistan (e.), Iran (s.)
CHINA: China [Guangdong Sheng, Guangxi Zhuangzu Zizhiqu, Hainan Sheng, Sichuan Sheng, Yunnan Sheng]

Asia-Tropical

INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: Bangladesh, India [Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Delhi, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Arunachal Pradesh], Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan
INDO-CHINA: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam

Naturalized
Africa

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, South Africa [KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West]

Southern America

CARIBBEAN: Hispaniola, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cuba, Jamaica, United States [Puerto Rico]
SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina [Jujuy, Salta]

Other (exact native range obscure)

Reference(s)

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
Bosser, J. M. et al., eds. 1976-. Flores des Mascareignes.
Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
Du Puy, D. J. et al. 2002. The Leguminosae of Madagascar
Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. 1994. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist
Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Zhu, X. Y. et al. 2007. Legumes of China: a checklist

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Weed			Smith, A. C. 1979-1991. Flora vitiensis nova.
Weed			Sanjappa, M. 1992. Legumes of India

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=33761. Accessed 11 May 2026.