Efficient propagation of an endangered medicinal plant Jurinea dolomiaea Boiss in the North Western Himalaya using rhizome cuttings under ex situ conditions

Abstract

Jurinea dolomiaea is an important medicinal and aromatic plant species of Kashmir Himalaya. Due to its tremendous overexploitation the species has been listed as endangered for Himalayan region. In this study we carried out the propagation of J. dolomiaea using rhizome cuttings. Propagation through rhizome cuttings is a means towards conserving the species and making available planting material of this species for cultivation. Bringing more species under large-scale cultivation helps reduce the pressure on the wild stocks. We investigated the sprouting ability and percentage survival of rhizome cuttings under ex situ conditions including soil textures, moisture contents and different concentrations of Indole acetic acid (IAA), Indole butyric acid (IBA) and Gibberellic acid (GA3) treatments. A better rooting response (p ≤ 0.05) was observed with GA3 25 ppm treatment when compared to zero hormone soaked. Key