Sesbania tetraptera is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is a herb with yellow flowers. The fruits are pods. The species is native to Africa, and was first validly described in 1871.
Taxonomy The name Sesbania tetraptera was first validly published by John Gilbert Baker in 1871, following an earlier invalid publication by Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Hochstetter.
Two subspecies are recognised: Sesbania tetraptera subsp. rogersii Sesbania tetraptera subsp. tetraptera
Distribution Sesbania tetraptera is native to the seasonally dry tropical biome of Botswana, Chad, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, South Africa (the Northern Provinces), Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The species grows in temporarily flooded grasslands and Colophospermum woodlands, and on clay, sand, and limestone. It is present at altitudes of .
Description Sesbania tetraptera is an annual or biennial herb that grows high. The branches are cylindrical, and sometimes have prickles. The leaflets are up to long, up to wide, and arranged into twenty to thirty pairs.
The inflorescence is a raceme with two to twelve flowers. The calyx tube is around long, and has teeth which are around long. The standard is pale yellow, long, and wide. The claw is around long. The keel is pale to greenish-yellow, and long.
The fruit is a slightly curved pod, measuring long and around wide. It has fifteen to twenty seeds. The seeds are rounded or oblong, yellow, around long, and around wide.
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