Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of contributors
- 1 Factors influencing the germination and storage characteristics of orchid pollen
- 2 Effect of temperature and moisture content on the viability of Cattleya aurantiaca seed
- 3 Asymbiotic germination of epiphytic and terrestrial orchids
- 4 Germination and mycorrhizal fungus compatibility in European orchids
- 5 Host–fungus relationships in orchid mycorrhizal systems
- 6 The effects of the composition of the atmosphere on the growth of seedlings of Cattleya aurantiaca
- 7 Orchid propagation by tissue culture techniques – past, present and future
- 8 Population biology and conservation of Ophrys sphegodes
- 9 Predicting population trends in Ophrys sphegodes Mill.
- 10 Predicting the probability of the bee orchid (Ophrys apifera) flowering or remaining vegetative from the size and number of leaves
- 11 British orchids in their European context
- 12 The Nature Conservancy Council and orchid conservation
- 13 A private conservation project in the coastal rainforest in Brazil: the first ten years
- 14 The role of the living orchid collection at Kew in conservation
- 15 Import and export of orchids and the law
- Index
3 - Asymbiotic germination of epiphytic and terrestrial orchids
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of contributors
- 1 Factors influencing the germination and storage characteristics of orchid pollen
- 2 Effect of temperature and moisture content on the viability of Cattleya aurantiaca seed
- 3 Asymbiotic germination of epiphytic and terrestrial orchids
- 4 Germination and mycorrhizal fungus compatibility in European orchids
- 5 Host–fungus relationships in orchid mycorrhizal systems
- 6 The effects of the composition of the atmosphere on the growth of seedlings of Cattleya aurantiaca
- 7 Orchid propagation by tissue culture techniques – past, present and future
- 8 Population biology and conservation of Ophrys sphegodes
- 9 Predicting population trends in Ophrys sphegodes Mill.
- 10 Predicting the probability of the bee orchid (Ophrys apifera) flowering or remaining vegetative from the size and number of leaves
- 11 British orchids in their European context
- 12 The Nature Conservancy Council and orchid conservation
- 13 A private conservation project in the coastal rainforest in Brazil: the first ten years
- 14 The role of the living orchid collection at Kew in conservation
- 15 Import and export of orchids and the law
- Index
Summary
Introduction
The application of in vitro techniques to the propagation of plants at Kew originated from Dr Peter Thompson's work in the 1960s on the formulation of a medium for orchid seed germination. By 1971 the commercial and research potential of plant propagation by aseptic culture was becoming more apparent and the Director of Kew at the time, Professor Heslop-Harrison, determined that it was time to make the techniques available to the living collection. Plans were made for a unit to provide in vitro propagation services to the sections of the Living Collections Division at Kew. The Unit based at Aiton House was set up and opened in 1977, under the present Curator, Mr John Simmons.
The living orchid collection at Kew comprises approximately 3,500 species represented in 375 genera. Each year the resultant seed from a pollination programme is germinated at the Micropropagation Unit. Seed is also given to the Unit by botanists from field collections, from private and commercial orchid growers and from members of the general public. The main function of the Unit is to supply the orchid collection with new species and in many cases provide a back-up of viable seedlings for those species which present special cultivation problems. As much information as possible is recorded about the seed including such details as the site and habitat type where the collection was made. This type of information helps decide the type of culture conditions used.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Modern Methods in Orchid Conservation , pp. 31 - 38Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1989
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