Danglepod (Sesbania herbacea), a very swift-growing weedy native annual, now graces the 3-14-2015 wildflower planting at the (Pelican Island) Audubon House. Driven by the recent rains, this plant is now taller than I am in some places on the property.
Also known as hemp sesbania, bigpod sesbania, coffee-weed, tall-river hemp and bequila, this member of the pea family, Fabaceae, has compound leaves with 20 to 70 leaflets. Its yellow dangling flowers are speckled with purple and give way to long thin pods which contain a copious number of very viable seeds.
This plant is thought to be toxic to livestock, especially cattle, due to the saponins that it contains. This plant volunteers freely in moist, disturbed places where it sometimes forms a monoculture.
Enjoy the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area 
Yep! Formed a monoculture in the ditches at Hobart Landing.
Ken Gonyo assured me that it was a native but we pulled it all out of the butterfly garden on the IRLT property. Just a little too aggressive and large. Has anyone experimented with cutting it every few weeks to keep it low and bushier?
Felicity Rask, Gloucester VA.
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