Micropropagation of Lagerstroemia reginae Roxb. through shoot bud culture

Lagerstroemia reginae Roxb. an ornamental and medicinal plant has been successfully micropropagated using seedling explants. Raising the level of NH₄NO₃ from 1650 mg I⁻¹ to 1900 mg I⁻¹ in Murashige and Skoog's (MS) modified medium was found to be effective as nitrogen source. Sucrose at 3% level was very effective as a carbon source. BA was found to be the effective cytokinin, which when used with NAA (0.5 mg I⁻¹ of BA and 0.1 mg I⁻¹ of NAA) exhibited the best results. The regenerated shoots were rooted in modified MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg I⁻¹ of IAA. The plantIets were maintained in the laboratory on vermiculite and peat mixture for one month and successfully transferred to soil.