Bigpod Sesbania

Sesban exaltatus (Raf.) Rydberg
Darwinia exallala Raf. Fl. Ludov. 106. 1817.
Sesbania macrocarpa Muhl. (Cat. 65, hyponym. 1813); Nutt. Gen. 2: 112. 1818.
An annual; stem glabrous, terete or slightly angled, 1-4 m. high; stipules linear-lanceolate, 1 cm. long, caducous; leaves 12-30 dm. long; leaflets 30-70, linear-oblong, rounded and mucronate at the apex, acute or obtuse at the base, 1-2.5 cm. long, 3-6 mm. wide, glabrous, somewhat glaucous beneath; racemes 2-10 cm. long, 2-6-flowered; bracts and bractlets linearsubulate, caducous; calyx about 5 mm. long and broad, the lobes with a triangular base and a subulate tip, nearly 2 mm. long; corolla yellow or the banner sometimes turning pink-purple; banner 12-15 mm. long; blades of the wings oblanceolate, with a triangular basal auricle, those of the keel-petals with a sharp basal auricle; pod 1.5-2 dm. long, 3 mm. broad, glabrous, 30-40-seeded; seeds 3-4 mm. long, 1.5-2 mm. high. Perhaps a northern variety of S. occidentalis.
Type locality: New Orleans, Louisiana. Distribution: Missouri to Louisiana and Texas.

Annual, Herbs, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems less than 1 m tall, Stems 1-2 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules inconspicuous, absent, or caducous, Stipules setiform, subulate or acicular, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves even pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Stip els present at base of leaflets, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves glandular punctate or gland-dotted, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescence axillary, Bracteoles present, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx glabrous, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals orange or yellow, Petals bicolored or with red, purple or yellow streaks or spots, Banner petal suborbicular, broadly rounded, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing petals auriculate, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel petals auriculate, spurred, or gibbous, Keel abruptly curved, or spirally coiled, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Stamens 9-10, Stamens diadelphous, 9 united, 1 free, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit stipitate, Fruit unilocular, Fruit tardily or weakly dehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruits quadrangulate, Fruit or valves persistent on stem, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit compressed between seeds, Fruit beaked, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit 11-many seeded, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.

Sesbania herbacea (syn. Sesbania exaltata) is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names bigpod sesbania, Colorado River-hemp, and coffeeweed. It is native to the United States, particularly the southeastern states, where it grows in moist environments. It can be found elsewhere as an introduced species. It is a woody herb growing to 3 meters or more in height. The leaves are made up of many pairs of oblong leaflets. The inflorescence is a small raceme of pealike flowers with yellow or purple-spotted petals.