Sesbania punicea (Cavanilles) Bentham, Fabaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 9.5 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Piscidia punicea Cav., Daubentonia punicea (Cav.) DC.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: coffee weed, rattlebox, rattlepod, red sesbania, sesbania

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "S. punicea is a deciduous, leguminous shrub that grows up to 4 m tall.  In spring or early summer, it produces a profusion of attractive red or orange flowers.  The ribbed seed pod is 6-8 cm long and may contain 4-10 seeds"  (Csurhes and Edwards, 1998; pp. 56-57).

"Deciduous shrub or small tree; leaves alternate, pinnately divided with 6-20 pairs of leaflets with smooth margins; flowers pea-like, red-orange or reddish purple, in drooping clusters; fruit a 4-winged pod with slight constrictions and partitions between the seeds" (Russell et al.).

Habitat/ecology:  "In the United States, S. punicea was introduced as a garden ornamental.  It escaped cultivation and formed dense thickets along river banks, ditch banks and disturbed areas from Florida to eastern Texas.  Similarly, it was planted in gardens in South Africa and soon became naturalized.  Over a period of 20 years, the plant invaded the Natal coastal belt, the Natal midlands, northern Natal near Ladysmith, the Transvaal highlands, the eastern Transvaal, and several areas of the Cape Province.  Throughout these areas the plant has become an invasive weed, principally on river banks and in wetlands, where it has excluded native plants"  (Csurhes and Edwards, 1998; pp. 56-57).

Propagation:  "Seeds are readily water-dispersed, so the species poses a serious threat to riverside vegetation" (Cronk & Fuller, 2001; p. 124).

Native range:  South America (Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil), now a popular garden plant (Csurhes & Edwards, 1998; pp. 56-57).

Presence:

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced cultivated	Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (pp. 56-57)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
South Africa South Africa	South Africa (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (pp. 56-57)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced	Cronk, Q. C. B./Fuller, J. L. (2001) (p. 124)

Comments:  Spreading rapidly in Mauritius following introduction in the 1980s (John Mauremootoo, personal communication).

Declared a noxious weed in South Africa.

Sold by a nursery in Queensland, Australia. All specimens recalled for destruction. Declared a noxious weed in Queensland in 1994. (Csurhes & Edwards, 1998).

Control: 

Physical:  Hand pull or dig out seedlings and young plants.

Chemical:  Cut large plants and treat the stumps with herbicide.

Biological:  "The bud-feeding apionid Trichapion lativentre has so far proved to be the most successful biological control agent tested.  It feeds on and damages the leaflets and growing points of the host.  Its presence also increases premature leaf abscission, reduces the growth of branches and greatly reduces the numbers of flowers, pods and seeds produced by the plants.  Larval development of T. lativentre in the buds and flowers results in a dramatic decrease in seed set, by more than 98%.  Remarkably, Sesbania punicea populations are scarcely thinned by this, because of density dependent effects, although the ability of the plant to colonize new areas is severely reduced."  Other weevil species such as Rhyssomatus marginatus and Neodiplogrammus quadrivittatus are under investigation in South Africa (Cronk & Fuller, 2001; p. 125).

Additional information:  "Poisonous Plants of North Carolina," Dr. Alice B. Russell, Department of Horticultural Science; Dr. James W. Hardin, Botany; Dr. Larry Grand, Plant Pathology; and Dr. Angela Fraser, Family and Consumer Sciences; North Carolina State University.
"Weed Alert" from The Nature Conservancy.

Additional online information about Sesbania punicea is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Sesbania punicea may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Cronk, Q. C. B./Fuller, J. L. 2001. Plant invaders. Earthscan Publications, Ltd., London. 241 pp.

Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. 1998. Potential environmental weeds in Australia: Candidate species for preventative control. Canberra, Australia. Biodiversity Group, Environment Australia. 208 pp.

ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre. 2005. International Legume Database & Information Service. Online searchable database.

Stirton, C. H., ed. 1978. Plant invaders: beautiful but dangerous. Department of Nature and Environmental Conservation of the Cape Provincial Administration, Cape Town.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.