In vitro propagation of Fraser fir from embryonic explants

Cotyledons, hypocotyls, and cotyledon-hypocotyl explants were excised from seeds of Fraser fir (Abies fraseri (PLrsh) Poir.) subjected to H2O2 treatment for 3, 6, 9, or 12 days and cultured on media containing 0-30 mg/L N-(phenylmethyl)-1H-purine-6-amine. Adventitious buds developed on hypocotyls and hypocotyls of cotyledon-hypocotyl explants, but rarely on cotyledons. Excised hypocotyls produced more buds than hypocotyls of cotyledon-hypocotyl explants (1.6 vs. 1.1). Hypocotyls excised from seeds treated with H2O2 for 6 or 9 days and placed on medium containing 10 mg/L N-(phenylmethyl)-1H-purine-6-amine yielded the greatest number of buds, with a mean of three buds per hypocotyl. Elongated adventitious shoots were placed on media containing 0-40 mg/L 1H-indole-3-butyric acid to induce rooting. Forty-eight percent of shoots treated with 40 mg/L 1H-indole-3-butyric acid rooted, and the greatest number of roots per rooted shoot (3.0) was also noted at this concentration. Plantlets were transferred to a growing medium, but acclimation was unsuccessful.