OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Sesbania punicea   FAMILY Fabaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Sesbania punicea   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Sesbania punicea

SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)

Sesbania punicea

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-30-001:

Daubentonia punicea   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Daubentonia punicea

 

COMMON NAME:
Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970    swus_page_229

        

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

JK Marlow    jkm200229_2929

February    Georgetown County    SC

Morgan Park

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

JK Marlow    jkm200229_2931

February    Georgetown County    SC

Morgan Park

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

JK Marlow    jkm200229_2937

February    Georgetown County    SC

Morgan Park

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

JK Marlow    jkm200229_2939

February    Georgetown County    SC

Morgan Park

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

JK Marlow    jkm200229_2942

February    Georgetown County    SC

Morgan Park

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

Keith Bradley    kab_sesbania_punicea_0812

May    Richland County    SC

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

Patrick D. McMillan    pdmspunicea_huger1

May    Berkeley County    SC

Francis Marion National Forest

Introduced into Florida as an ornamental, it has spread thru the Southeast, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

Patrick D. McMillan    pdmspunicea_huger2

May    Berkeley County    SC

Francis Marion National Forest

Highly poisonous to fowl and sheep, and probably humans as well, per Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995).

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

Patrick D. McMillan    pdmspunicea_huger3

May    Berkeley County    SC

Francis Marion National Forest

The common name is misleading: flower color much closer to red than purple, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_sesbania_punicea_14

July        

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_sesbania_punicea_3

July        

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

Barry Rice, sarracenia.com, Bugwood.org    bug_5391764

Month Unknown        

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

John M. Randall, The Nature Conservancy, Bugwood.org    bug_5392587

Month Unknown        

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

Karan A. Rawlins, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org    bug_5403310

Month Unknown        

Legume conspicuously 4-winged longitudinally, acuminate or tapering to a beak, per Weakley's Flora.

image of Sesbania punicea, Rattlebush, Purple Sesban, Scarlet Wisteria-tree, Red Sesban

Rebekah D. Wallace, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org    bug_5423637

Month Unknown    Camden County    GA

Cumberland Island National Seashore

Leaves 4-12", with 10-17 pairs of leaflets, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE pinnately compound leaves of shrubs

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Sesbania punicea   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Sesbania punicea   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Sesbania punicea

SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Sesbania punicea

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-30-001:
Daubentonia punicea   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Daubentonia punicea

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1369

Shrub
Perennial

Habitat: Ditches, wet fields, marshes, ponded wetlands, wet pinelands, per Weakley's Flora

Non-native: South America

Common in Coastal Plain (rare in Piedmont)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.


Invasive?

This plant may be causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:

 

LEAVES:
Deciduous
Even-pinnately compound: 12-40 leaflets
Mostly alternate

FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Orange or red
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-lobed campanulate calyx
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
10 stamens, diadelphous, 9 and 1
Superior ovary

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Dark brown
Legume

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME: