In vitro propagation of Achillea asplenifolia VENT. through multiple shoot regeneration

A method for the micropropagation of Achillea asplenifolia VENT. (Asteraceae) is described. Axillary shoots regenerated from nodal explants of adult plants could be stimulated to multiple shoot formation on the basal medium of Murashige and Skoog (1962), supplemented with different cytokinins. The best proliferation (5.33 shoots per culture), together with a healthy appearance of the cultures, was achieved with N-benzyl-9-(2-tetrahydropyranyl)adenine at a concentration of 1 mg/l. Shoots could be easily rooted on hormone-free MS basal medium and subsequently acclimatized to greenhouse and field conditions with 100% survival rate. DNA-fingerprinting, chromosome counts, the proazulene pattern as well as the essential oil analysis proved the true to type character of the micropropagated plants.