Sesbania grandiflora (L.) Desv. (Leguminoseae)
Vernacular name: khae, khae ban
Common name: vegetable hummingbird (English), shiro gocho (Japanese)
Small tree, short life, 4-10 m high, cultivated. Leaves compound, 1-pinnate, 15-30 cm long, petiolate; leaflets up to 60, oblong, obtuse, 2.5 cm long, 8-10 mm wide, the middle leaflets larger than the terminal ones. Inflorescence axillary panicle, 4-7 cm long. Flowers strongly bilateral, papilionaceous, 3-4 together, 7-8 cm long, white or dark red. Calyx 5, campanulate. Corolla 5, differentiate into 1 standard, 1 keels and 2 wings. Stamens 10, diadelphous. Ovary superior, short stipitate, cylindric, 1-loculed. Pod oblong, attenuate, somewhat constriced, with prominent margin, c 50 cm long, 8-9 mm wide; seeds many, elliptic, compressed, about 6 mm long, 5 mm wide, brown.
The shoots and young leaves are blanched and eaten with nam phrik, as are the flowers after the removal of the bitter stamens. The flowers can also be used in kaeng som (sweet and sour curry), fried with pork or prawns, or mixed with flour and fried.
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