Pea Family Plant: Vegetable Hummingbird (Sesbania grandiflora) - White Flower

Sesbania grandiflora (also known as agati, syn. Aeschynomene grandiflora) or hummingbird tree/scarlet wisteria is a small tree in the genus Sesbania. Sesbania is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae and the only genus found in Tribe Sesbanieae.

It is believed to have originated either in India or Southeast Asia and grows primarily in hot and humid tropical areas of the world.

The flowers of S. grandiflora are eaten as a vegetable in Southeast Asia, like Laos, Thailand, Java in Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Ilocos Region of the Philippines.

In Indonesia, it is known as Daun Turi, Kacang Turi, Kembang Turi, Turi.

Besides the white, there are species of this hummingbird tree which has red flowers.

Scientific Classification of Vegetable Hummingbird (Sesbania grandiflora)

Kingdom Plantae Haeckel, 1866 – Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants

Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants

Division (Phylum) Magnoliophyta - Cronquist, Takhtajan & W. Zimmermann, 1966 - Flowering Plants

Class Magnoliopsida Brongniart, 1843 - Dicotyledons

(unranked) eudicots

Subclass Rosidae - Takhtajan, 1967

Order Fabales Bromhead, 1838

Family Fabaceae lindl.– Pea family

Subfamily Faboideae Rudd

Tribe Sesbanieae

Genus Sesbania Scopoli, 1777, nom. cons. - Riverhemp

Species S. grandiflora

Botanical/Scientific name: Sesbania grandiflora (L.) Poiret – Vegetable Hummingbird

Synonym Agati grandiflora (L.) Desv.

references:

• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesbania_grandiflora
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesbania
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Scientific_classification
• www.biolib.cz/en/taxonposition/id209235/
• zipcodezoo.com/Plants/S/Sesbania_grandiflora/
• taxonomicon.taxonomy.nl/TaxonTree.aspx?id=81301&tree=0.1

 

Photos of white Vegetable Hummingbird (Sesbania grandiflora) flowers were taken using a camera phone Sony Ericsson K800i in ponorogo, East Java, Indonesia (in my father-in-law’s front yard).

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