Micropropagation of Incarvillea delavayi Bureau et Franchet (Bignoniaceae)

A simple and efficient protocol for micropropagation of Incarvillea delavayi (Bignoniaceae), an ornamental plant from China, was developed in this study. As initial plant material, adventitious shoots were used. Effect of 0, 0.1, 0.5 and 1 mg l-1 BAP in half-strength MS medium on shoot multiplication was studied. For rooting, 0.1 and 0.3 mg l-1 NAA were tested. The highest shoot number (8.60 ± 0.78 shoots per explant) and plant height (5.50 ± 0.31 cm) were obtained on medium supplemented with 1 mg l-1 BAP. The shoots optimally rooted on medium with addition of 0.3 mg l-1 NAA (8.48 ± 0.51 roots per shoot; root length 1.64 ± 0.18 cm). Well rooted plants were transferred ex vitro. Eight weeks after ex vitro transfer, 62.5% plants survived. The protocol optimized here, can be used for large-scale propagation of ornamental plant I. delavayi.