Heuningbos (Cyclopia spp.) volwasse embrioweefselkultuur en die effek van peulposisie op saadkleur.

Plants (different genotypes) of Cyclopia, used for production of South African honeybush tea (a herbal tisane product), are being improved through breeding for largescale cultivation, but seed dimorphism and dormancy negatively affect germination percentage. In order to increase the percentage of plants that can be obtained from a batch of seed, mature embryo culture and the influence of pod position on seed colour were investigated for C. longifolia, C. maculata and C. subternata. Mature embryos were excised and cultured in vitro at 25 °C ± 1 °C, 24-hour photoperiod, with and without prior cold treatment. The culture of mature embryos proved to be very successful, consistently resulting in more plantlets than conventional sowing. Mature honeybush pods were also collected from the upper, middle and lower-third foliar portions of honeybush shrubs to determine the number of green/indeterminate/brown seeds produced in each position. However, the ratio of dimorphic seed colours produced could not be predicted by pod position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]