Bigpodded Sesbania
Sesbania herbacea
Found in ditches, wet fields, disturbed moist and wet areas, perhaps native only in the deeper South. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 12 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Bloom
- July to October
- Fruiting season
- August to November
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 58 Florida counties.
Habitats
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground; wet meadows.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Who uses this plant?
21CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Sesbania
- Anavitrinella pampinariaCommon Gray, Cranberry Spanworm
- Anticarsia gemmatalisVelvetbean Caterpillar Moth
- Colias eurythemeOrange Sulphur, Alfalfa Butterfly
- Elasmopalpus lignosellaLesser Cornstalk Borer
- Gesta baptisiaeWild Indigo Duskywing, Baptisia Duskywing
- Gesta zaruccoZarucco Duskywing
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Hemiargus ceraunusCeraunus Blue, Antillean Blue
- Iridopsis defectariaBrown-Shaded Gray, Willow Looper
- Iridopsis humariaSmall Purplish Gray
Show all 21
- Leptotes cassiusCassius Blue, Tropical Striped Blue
- Platynota flavedanaBlack-Shaded Platynota
- Platynota rostranaOmnivorous Platynota
- Psamatodes abydataDot-Lined Angle
- Selenisa sueroidesTailpipes, Pale-Edged Selenisa Moth
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
- Urbanus proteusLong-Tailed Skipper, Bean Leaf Roller
- Dichomeris acuminatus
- Ephyrodes cacata
- Glympis concors
5BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Sesbania
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
4BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Sesbania
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Francolinus francolinusBlack Francolin
- Zenaida asiaticaWhite-winged Dove
- Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Flower color
- Red, orange, yellow or purple
- Fruit begins
- August
- Fruit ends
- November
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “July to October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Red, orange, yellow or purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Fruit begins · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “Up to about 12 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Annual” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
River Hemp; Sesban
Conservation status
| Florida rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5? |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications