In vitro propagation of Japanese garden iris,Iris ensata Thunb.

Summary Explants of young scapes of Iris ensata were cultured on MS medium with 1 mg/l NAA, 1 mg/l 6-BA, 30 g/l sucrose and 10 g/l agar, and this species was characterized by high variety specificity for callus, shoot and root induction. Among 23 varieties and one wild form tested, Okichidori, Miyukisudare and Meiji-l exhibited a considerable rate of shoot induction, although these induced poorly rooted shoots. In addition, two types of callus induction such as green and white calli were observed, and the induction of green-type calli was significantly correlated with that of shoots. Surprisingly, the only modification, half-strength MS inorganic salts, for the above medium proved to be very effective for shoot induction in the scape culture. For shoots obtained from the scape culture, effects of sucrose concentrations and activated charcoal on root induction were examined by using 1/2 MS with 1 mg/l NAA, 1 mg/l 6-BA, 30 g/l sucrose and 10 g/l agar as the basic medium. The addition of 1% activated charcoal to the media had a marked effect for root induction independent of sucrose concentrations and varieties tested. The in vitro propagation technique of I. ensata is discussed.