About Aeschynomene indica L.
Aeschynomene indica L. is a variable species that can grow as an annual or perennial herb, or as a subshrub. It reaches heights between 30 centimeters and 2.5 meters tall. Its stem is usually thin, around 0.5 centimeters wide, but may grow as thick as 2.5 centimeters wide at the base. The stem can be spongy, corky, or sometimes hollow, and it is always cylindrical. Most of the plant is hairless, but it sometimes develops glandular hairs with tubercular bases. Leaves can grow up to 10 centimeters long, and each leaf is composed of many narrow, papery leaflets that each reach up to 1.3 centimeters in length. Some of its leaves are sensitive to touch. This species has spurred stipules that grow up to 1.5 centimeters long. Its inflorescences hold between 1 and 6 flowers, which have yellow or whitish corollas streaked with reddish or purple color. The long, narrow legume pod grows up to 4.8 centimeters long, can be straight or curved, and contains up to 13 chambers. The pods hold black or brown kidney-shaped seeds that are 2 to 3 millimeters long each. This plant most often grows in wet, muddy habitats such as floodplains, swamps, and paddy fields, but it also occurs in dry land. It has been observed growing alongside Sesbania species and Acacia nilotica ssp. tomentosa. It also grows in disturbed habitats like roadside ditches, and often becomes weedy. This species is used as green manure. It is not very palatable to livestock, but is sometimes used as fodder, though it can be toxic. Its seeds are poisonous to pigs, causing loss of coordination, falls, and death; brain tissue examination of affected pigs has revealed swelling and hemorrhage. The pithy stems of this plant are used to make floating devices, including rafts and floats for fishing nets. The plant is also used as a spermicide. Its charcoal is processed to make gunpowder. In Cambodia, people eat the plant's yellow flowers, and refer to the herb as snaô ach' moën in Khmer, where snaô means "edible flowers" and ach' moën means "chicken poo".
