Axillary shoot proliferation and plant regeneration in Euryodendron excelsum H. t. chang, a critically endangered species endemic to China.

Euryodendron excelsum H. T. Chang is a single-type, rare and endangered woody plant unique toChina. In this study, young stems were used as explants and cultured on Woody Plant Medium (WPM)supplemented with 5.0 μM 6-benzyladenine (BA), were subcultured for more than 15 times over atotal of more than 3 years and finally an efficient axillary shoot proliferation and plantlet regenerationsystem was established in which one shoot could proliferate an average of 5.1 axillary shoots every2 months on the medium supplemented with 5.0 μM BA and 0.5 μM α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA).Shoots rooted at a moderate frequencies (50.1%) on agarized WPM supplemented with 0.5 μM NAAbut 100% of shoots rooted in agar-free vermiculite-based WPM after culture for 2 months. Plantlets,when transplanted to peat soil: vermiculite (1:1), showed the highest 95.1% survival within 1 month.