Regenerative studies on the detached leaves of Echeveria elegans. Anatomy and regeneration of leaves in sterile culture

Excised leaves, L1–L30, of Echeveria elegans Bgr. were cultured aseptically on an agar medium to study their regenerative capacity. The younger leaves tended to produce roots earlier than shoots and some had not produced shoots by the time of termination of the experiments. The older leaves produced shoots earlier than roots and in such instances the shoots appeared on the adaxial side. In no case was the appearance of shoots on the abaxial side of the leaf noticed and this suggested the possible manifestation of polarity of regeneration. The leaf regeneration to produce roots or shoots depended on the degree of vascular differentiation, particularly at the leaf base where regeneration normally occurs. In young leaves that had little or no vascular differentiation at the time of their isolation, abundant callus appeared in which the first primordia initiated were of roots. The old detached leaves had short petioles, which contained mature vascular tissue, and produced very little callus in culture.