Macroproliferation of Gentiana kurroo Royle

Abstract

Gentiana kurroo is a small perennial herb, with a stout rhizome bearing decumbent flowering stems, commonly found in North
–Western Himalayas, at altitudes of 5,000−11,000 ft. Due to multiple uses, species is being over exploited in its natural habitats at the Garhwal Himalaya. The propagation by rhizome has emerged as an effective method of multiplication and conservation of plant species. In the present study, an attempt was made to evaluate the impact of different hormones, i.e., Indole -3 butyric acid (IBA) and Indole-3 acetic acid (IAA) for the root induction in G. kurroo. For this, the growing tip of rhizome was split into 2, 3 and 4 longitudinal parts. Each split contained ½, ⅓ or ¼ of longitudinal section of mother rhizome and above ground part with growing buds. Two piece rhizome exhibited significantly higher survival percentage (97.5%) under control conditions followed by three piece (90%) and four pieces (22.5%) cuttings. Two and three pieces IBA-treated cuttings showed better results than IAA treatments and enhanced
the emergence percentage. Therefore, macroproliferation of G. kurroo rhizome is an easy and effective technique for multiplication and conservation of this endangered herb.
Key words: Conservation, hormones, multiplication, rhizome and herb