Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Egyptian riverhemp (Sesbania sesban), of the Fabaceae family. Fast-growing soft-wooded shrub or small tree with feathery pinnate leaves and slender pendulous pods; native range: Africa and the Indian subcontinent, along ditches, tank bunds and wet ground; planted as a green manure, a hedge and a nurse tree. Globally recognized as jayantī in Sanskrit, jait, jayanti in Hindi, and egyptian riverhemp, sesban, common sesban in English. The part used is leaf (the expressed juice); also seed and bark. Pale-green pinnate leaflets, bitterish and slightly pungent, yielding a green juice with a raw leguminous smell.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
EGYPTIAN RIVERHEMP
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- egyptian riverhemp
- Scientific name
- Sesbania sesban (L.) Merr.
- Family
- Fabaceae
Form
- Part used
- leaf (the expressed juice); also seed and bark
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- bitter (tikta) · pungent (katu)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- kaphavatahara, krimighna (antiparasitic), jvaraghna (antipyretic), shothahara (reduces swelling), vishaghna (antitoxic), vranaropana (heals wounds)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- pitta-predominant and hot conditions
- Toxicity
- the seed is not a food and quantities of the leaf may nauseate; no significant toxicity on record at the customary dose
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