Abstract
The most recent efforts at micropropagation of Rhododendron species started at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 2013. This paper outlines the methods and practices adopted, and highlights some of the problems and pitfalls encountered throughout the process. At the close of 2017 the first plants propagated using in vitro techniques were planted at Benmore Botanic Garden in Argyll, Scotland.
Highlights
In recent decades many of the important heritage rhododendrons in the living collections of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), some of which were collected by famous plant collectors including George Forrest, Joseph Rock and Ernest Henry Wilson, have been in steep decline (Fig. 1)
Several Rhododendron species are not suited to Edinburgh’s climate, which can have long, dry spells, as many of them naturally occur in much wetter climates
A major contributor to decline is the age of the collection; RBGE has been growing and researching rhododendrons since the late 19th century
Summary
In recent decades many of the important heritage rhododendrons in the living collections of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), some of which were collected by famous plant collectors including George Forrest, Joseph Rock and Ernest Henry Wilson, have been in steep decline (Fig. 1). Ros has been heavily involved in the conservation of rare and heritage plant collections using micropropagation procedures. She has propagated material from many of Cornwall’s heritage gardens, since the spread of Phytophthora ramorum and Phytophthora kernoviae into the south-western regions of the UK. In 2008, Ros Smith and Barry Mulholland published a paper comparing the in vitro treatment of floral buds with vegetative shoots to examine which of these enabled this exclusion most successfully (Smith & Mulholland, 2008) Their results found that floral buds were the most reliable method for keeping clean cultures, with a 65 per cent
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