Propagation and conservation of Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D. Don) Soo, an endangered alpine orchid

Abstract

Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D. Don) Soo; a source of high quality ‘salep’ used as nervine tonic, has been categorized as critically endangered due to over-exploitation from the wild. This report deals with the propagation of this species using both in vitro and conventional methods. For green pod culture, four nutrient media, Knudson C (KC), Murashige and Skoog (MS), Vacin and Went (VW) and Vejsadova (VJ) were tested by adding different growth additives. MS medium supplemented with peptone (P) (1.0 g/L), morphoinoethane sulphonic acid (MES) (1.0 g/L) and activated charcoal (AC) (0.1%) was found to be the most effective medium for the development of protocorm like bodies (PLBs), development of chlorophyll and for the plantlet formation. To improve vegetative multiplication, tubers were treated with α- naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), indole-3- butyric acid (IBA) and indole acetic acid (IAA) before planting. Rooting was observed in only apical segments. Maximum rooting (38.88%) was induced with 50.0 μM IBA. This study is helpful in the propagation of this endangered orchid at lower elevation which could be a successful effort of conservation of this endangered orchid at lower elevation and this could also reduce pressure on its population in the wild. Keywords: In vitro propagation, protocorm like bodies (PLBs), vegetative propagation, conservation