Research on the Application of Asexual Propagation Techniques in Lycoris Plant

Objective Lycoris plant is a kind of flower and medicinal plant with great market potential. It is important to solve the problem of propagation of Lycoris from the provenance, especially the proliferation of bulbs, which can make up the shortcomings of low survival rate of Lycoris seeds in conventional sowing and reproduction and low coefficient of sub-ball reproduction.

Method Four asexual propagation techniques of Lycoris were studied, including in vitro culture of sterile seedlings from Lycoris seeds, in vitro culture of scales, basal incision and reproduction of scales, and basal incision and reproduction of scales after 1/3 of the bulbs being removed. The indexes of proliferation rate, rooting rate, seedling formation rate and growth condition were explored.

Result The results of in vitro culture of sterile seedlings showed that the germination rate, the induction rate of multiple buds, proliferation rate and rooting rate of L.radiata and L. aurea were all higher than those of L. sprengeri and L. longituba. The results of scale culture in vitro showed that different media had great difference in the induction of the three kinds of Lycoris bulblets. For L.radiata, after 3 to 4 weeks of culture, there were rice granules among the scales and gradually grew into bulbs. The culture time was about 10 days earlier than that of L. aurea. The suitable period of scale base cutting propagation was from September to October in the initial growth period of leaves after flowering. The cut scales of L.radiata and L. aurea at about 25 (±2) ℃, sterilized substrate(sand)and humidity of 60%- 70% were conducive to the survival of propagation, and the seedling formation rate was higher than 90%. The propagation rate of scale-block base incised by 1/3 of bulb was higher than 86%, and the formation of bulblets, roots and shoots were about 10- 15 days later than that of the whole bulb scale base incised.

Conclusion The different indexes showed that the binary scale block cutting propagation of Lycoris plants is an effective, simple and low-cost method of asexual reproduction.