Sesbania

Sesbania drummondii, known as Rattlebush, Rattlebox and Poison bean, is a medium-sized perennial shrub in the legume family Fabaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States, from Texas east to Florida. The Sesbania can be a woody-based shrub or small tree that grows from 5–20 ft tall and 2-5 ft wide. It is usually profusely branched in the crown. Branches are thin and widely spreading. It prefers moist soils of ditches and frequently-inundated meadows, as well as depressions and the open edges of lakes, ponds and streams.

The medium-green LEAVES are alternate, deciduous, and pinnately compound. There are typically 12-24 LEAFLETS, and occasionally as many as 60 are found. Each leaflet is oblong shaped and 0.79–1.2 in long.

The orange-yellow, pea-like FLOWERS occur in a drooping raceme on a long stem. They are typically found with a red lining.

The SEED PODS are four-sided, four-winged, and about 3.9 in long. The “peas” rattle inside, giving this plant its common name of Rattlebush. Inside the pods, the SEEDS are separated by transverse partitions.

Sesbania drummondii flowers from May to October, usually retaining many of the seed pods, which remain attached until the plant dies back to ground level for the winter. Fall and winter winds incessantly make the pods rattle beckoning seed-eating birds and other WILDLIFE (immune to the seed’s toxin) like a dinner bell.

The seeds are poisonous, containing the toxin sesbanimide. Animals raised with the plant learn to avoid it because of the foul taste of the green and flowering plants. However, naive cattle, goats or sheep placed on pastures containing dried plants in late fall and winter are frequently poisoned. Sick animals often die within 24 hours.