Index / Search / Sesbania tomentosa

§1 Plant

Sesbania tomentosa Hook. & Arn.

vernacular Oahu riverhemp — species · Fabaceae


USDA
SETO3
GBIF
2970754
Rank
species
Oahu riverhemp (Sesbania tomentosa)
Platephotograph · 104623964081378888743CC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus
Sesbania
§2a

Native status, by region

  • HI Hawaii Native
  • PR Puerto Rico Introduced
§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 1 state
Legend Native · 4 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
High
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Medium
Salinity
High
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
Medium
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
50 °F minimum
Frost-free days
365 min.
Precipitation
20–40 in/yr
pH range
6–8
Root depth
18 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
2 ft
Height @ 20 y
2 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Moderate
Flower colour
Red
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
Medium
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Indeterminate
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Year Round
Seed ends
Year Round
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
22,650
Propagation
bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SETO3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2970754 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T16:37:38Z