This catalog is for information only. If you don't see the price - the plant is not for sale.

This small ornamental tree with a straight trunk produces a mass of large, 3-4" white flowers resembling little birds. Its lower branches create a floral canopy from November to June. Tolerates flooding. The flower is large and distinctively curved. Vertical pods, located near the flowers, can contain up to 20 seeds. The tender leaves, green fruit, and flowers are eaten alone as a vegetable or mixed into curries or salads. Flowers may be dipped in batter and fried in butter. Tender portions serve as cattle fodder. Ripe pods apparently are not eaten. The inner bark can serve as fiber and the white, soft wood not too durable, can be used for cork. The wood is used, like bamboo, in Asian construction. The tree is grown as an ornamental shade tree, and for reforestation. Bark, leaves, gums, and flowers are considered medicinal. In Java, the tree is extensively used as a pulp source. A gum resembling kino (called katurai), fresh when red, nearly black after exposure, exudes from wounds. This astringent gum is partially soluble in water and in alcohol, but applied to fishing cord, it makes it more durable. Pepper vines (Piper nigrum) are sometimes grown on and in the shade of the agati. Dried and powdered bark is used as a cosmetic in Java. An aqueous extract of bark is said to be toxic to cockroaches.

Small bushy tree up to 15 feet tall with spectacular clusters of red flowers. The plant has bright green, drooping leaflets in opposite pairs, and the plant displays very attractive pea-like flowers in hanging clusters appearing from spring to fall. Throughout the summer and fall, the plant produces hundreds of seedpods that may stay on the plant through the winter. The four-winged seedpods hang in clusters, and mature from green to brown. Each pod contains 3-9 seeds, which create a distinct rattling sound when shaken or moved by a breeze. The pods eventually break open, releasing thousands of seeds which grow into new Sesbania plants. The plant may become invasive when grown near water, seeds spread by water streams. The winged seedpods drop off of the plant into nearby water and then travel downstream to fertile ground. The seeds have a very high germination rate, so many new plants sprout annually. All parts of the plant, particularly the seeds, are poisonous to mammals, birds and reptiles. As a small tree it has a spreading open crown reaching 6 to 8 feet in height. It often forms dense thickets. In the United States, the tree was introduced as a garden ornamental. The plant matures in one year and blooms the first year, too.

Fast growing, small size tree with pendant yellow flowers and long, slender pods. It has a long history of use in India. It has been used as a live support for black pepper, grapes, cucurbits and betel vine and as a shade tree for coffee and turmeric. Grows in a wide range of soils from loose sands to heavy clays. Tolerates saline soils. Tolerates light frosts, but will be killed by heavy frost. Yellow flowers and long, slender pods.

See picture.