Meetings of the Royal Botanical Society of The Netherlands

The system of culturing bulb-scale pieces as described by Nishiuchi (1979) was followed. Apeldoorn bulbs were harvested on five dates in May and June. Slices of scale were cut freshly after harvest as well as after storage of the bulbs for 1-5 weeks. The slices were cultured at c. 22°C on Murashige and Skoog medium with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP). About six weeks after the start of the culture callus lumps arose on some of the slices; shoots often emerged from these callus lumps. Fresh bulbs: The fourth harvest (18 June) gave the highest percentage of explants with shoots; the fifth harvest (29 June) gave none.