Some 60 species are currently accepted, with about 39 still unresolved. The genus is native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, in the Americas from the southern United States to northern Argentina, in sub-Saharan Africa, in southern Asia, and in New Guinea, Australia, and the Pacific.[1] The largest number of species are found in Africa, and the remainder in Australia, Hawaii, and Asia.[3]
Fossil record
Fossil seed pods from the upper Oligocene resembling Sesbania have been found in the Hungarian locality of Eger Wind-brickyard. The fossil species grew in a swampy and riparian environment.[4]
^USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Sesbania". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
^Distribution of Legumes in the Tertiary of Hungary by L. Hably, Advances in Legume Systematics: Part 4, The Fossil Record, Ed. P.S. Herendeen & Dilcher, 1992, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, ISBN0 947643 40 0
