Sesbania grandiflora or in Indonesia called kembang turiSesbania grandiflora or hummingbird tree/scarlet wisteria is a small tree in the genus Sesbania. It is believed to have originated either in India or Southeast Asia and grows primarily in hot and humid tropical areas of the world.
It is a tree growing between 3 and 5 m i height. The leaves are regular and rounded and the flowers white and large, very characteristic. The fruits look like flat, long and thin green beans.
In cultivation it grows rapidly. It likes exposure to sunshine and it is extremely frost sensitive.
The flowers of S. grandiflora are eaten as a vegetable in Southeast Asia, like Laos, Thailand, Java in Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Ilocos Region of the Philippines.
In the Thai language the flowers are called (dok khae) and are used in the Thai cuisine both cooked in curries and raw. In the Khmer language they are called pka angkea dey and in Vietnamese they are called so đũa. In the Philippines it is known as katuray and in the Indonesian language they are called bunga turi or kembang turi.
The young pods are also eaten, along with the leaves. In Sri Lanka, agati leaves, known as Katura murunga, are sometimes added to sodhi, a widely eaten, thin coconut gravy. In India this plant is known as agati (Hindi), agastya (Kannada), agise (Telugu), and both the leaves and the flowers have culinary uses.
