| heal.abstract |
Arbutus × andrachnoides Link. (f. Ericaceae) is a natural hybrid form between the strawberry tree (A. unedo) and the Greek strawberry tree (A. andrachne L.). It is an evergreen shrub or small tree found in the Mediterranean, Southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. The plant could be introduced for use in the urban and suburban landscape, and is suitable for reforestation due to vigorous re-sprouting after fire. In this study the micropropagation of the species using explants excised from young seedlings was investigated. The type of medium, MS or WPM, did not affect significantly shoot production on nodal stems. More and longer shoots were produced on zeatin (2.5 or 5.0 mg l-1) containing medium then on thidiazuron (0.2 or 2.0 mg l -1) containing medium. Shoots on thidiazuron were malformed and most of them were not long enough to be subcultured. Microshoots produced on zeatin media and put for rooting on MS or WPM with 1 or 2 mg l-1 IBA rooted at 82-90% on WPM and 42-50% on MS. Of the microplants 95% were successfully acclimatized to ex vitro conditions in all four substrates tested [peat, peat: perlite (1:1 v/v), compost, compost: perlite (1:1 v/v)]. © ISHS 2013. |
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