Sesbania cannabina (Retz.) Pers.
Sesbania Pea

Scientific Description

Prostrate,spreading or scrambling, shrub, spindly shrub (broom-like). Stems winged, not spiny, hairy; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, compound, alternate, continuous with stem, 65-290 mm long, glabrous, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent, leaflets 17-41, pinnately arranged, terminal leaflet present, stalked; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present but early deciduous ( only visible on youngest leaves ), 3.5-5 mm long, without glands, ribless. Pedicel present, 8 mm long, hairy. Bracteoles present but early deciduous. Calyx 5-10 mm long, not accrescent, glabrous, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 18-20 mm long, multicoloured, mostly yellow or orange, with some yellow or orange spots, streaks or blotches; claws present; standard 15-16 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 14-15 mm long, not auriculate, keel 15-16 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 1.3-2 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments united in an open sheath with one free stamen, 10-15 mm long. Ovary stipitate, glabrous; style 17-19 mm long, glabrous, not bearded, terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), 140-150 mm long, 4-5 mm wide, stipitate, not constricted between the seeds, flat or compressed, glabrous, beaked. Flowers in February, March, April, May, June, July, August and October. Occurs in the Northern, Eremaean and South-West Botanical Province, in the Great Sandy Desert, Pilbara, Carnarvon, Gascoyne, Little Sandy Desert, Northern Kimberley, Victoria Bonaparte, Central Kimberley, Ord-Victorian-Plain, Tanami, Dampierland and Geraldton Sandplains IBRA regions.