Ex situ conservation of Cymbidium eburneum Lindl.: a threatened and vulnerable orchid, by asymbiotic seed germination

The population of many splendid orchids is reducing from their natural habitats at an alarming rate and their conservation is becoming a matter of global concern. Asymbiotic seed germination has been applied for ex situ conservation of rare, endangered and threatened orchid taxa and could provide rapid means their multiplication. In the present study reported here, seeds of an epiphytic and rare orchid, Cymbidium eburneum were germinated asymbiotically in different basal media viz., Murashige and Skoog (MS), Knudson C, Mitra et al. (Mitra), Gamborg et al. (B5) and Nitsch. The highest germination rate was observed in Mitra medium, whereas the development of the protocorms was found to be best in MS medium. Effects of growth regulators viz., indole-3 acetic acid (IAA), α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-d), thidiazuron (TDZ), 6-benzyl aminopurine (BAP) and kinetin (Kn) both singly and in combination incorporated in the MS medium were studied on growth and development of seedlings. It was observed that MS medium nourished with 15 μM each of BAP and NAA in combination was found to enhance shoot number and length, and root number and length in the seedlings. The rooted seedlings were successfully acclimatized.