Sesbania sesban(L.) Merr.

Egyptian riverhemp

WFO wfo-0000178461 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 2 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 2 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Sesbania sesban, photographed by Mahomed Desai
fig. a Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-06-17 / obs. 136956695
Sesbania sesban, photographed by Antoinette Eyssell Knox
fig. b Antoinette Eyssell Knox, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 23819588
Sesbania sesban, photographed by Mahomed Desai
fig. c Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 136956501
Sesbania sesban, photographed by Mahomed Desai
fig. d Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 136956598
Sesbania sesban, photographed by Mahomed Desai
fig. e Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 136956626
Sesbania sesban, photographed by Mahomed Desai
fig. f Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 136956665
Sesbania sesban, photographed by Mahomed Desai
fig. g Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 136956719
Sesbania sesban, photographed by Antoinette Eyssell Knox
fig. h Antoinette Eyssell Knox, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 23819595

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 54 botanical countries

Regions where Sesbania sesban is native: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Caprivi Strip, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Pakistan, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Paraguay, Venezuela AngolaBeninBotswanaBurkinaBurundiCameroonCape ProvincesCaprivi StripCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoEritreaEswatiniEthiopiaGabonGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauIvory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMalawiMaliMauritaniaMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesRwandaSenegalSierra LeoneSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabweOmanSaudi ArabiaYemenAssamBangladeshEast HimalayaIndiaPakistanBrazil NortheastBrazil SoutheastParaguayVenezuela Cape Verde
Native distribution of Sesbania sesban, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Cape Provinces CPP
Cape Verde CVI
Caprivi Strip CPV
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Eritrea ERI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Sierra Leone SIE
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Pakistan PAK
Brazil Northeast BZE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Brazil Southeast BZL
Paraguay PAR
Venezuela VEN
Oman OMA ASIA-TEMPERATE
Saudi Arabia SAU
Yemen YEM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 31 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Aeschynomene aegyptiaca Steud.
  • Aeschynomene elongata Salisb.
  • Aeschynomene indica Burm.f.
  • Aeschynomene picta Cav.
  • Aeschynomene sesban L.
  • Aeschynomene suymenta Steud.
  • Coronilla picta Willd.
  • Coronilla sesban Willd.
  • Coronilla sesban (L.) Moench
  • Dolichos aeschynome-sesban Forssk.
  • Emerus sesban (L.) Hornem.
  • Sesban aegyptiaca Poir.
  • Sesban aegyptiacus Poir.
  • Sesban picta (Cav.) Poir.
  • Sesban sesban (L.) Britton
  • Sesbania aegyptiaca Poir.
  • Sesbania aegyptiaca Poir.
  • Sesbania aegyptiaca var. bicolor Wight & Arn.
  • Sesbania aegyptiaca var. concolor Wight & Arn.
  • Sesbania aegyptiaca var. picta Prain
  • Sesbania atropurpurea Taub.
  • Sesbania confaloniana (Chiov.) Chiov.
  • Sesbania indica Kuntze
  • Sesbania leptocarpa var. confaloniana Chiov.

and 7 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.