Plantlets were regenerated from callus of Iris pallida, an important p
erfume plant. Only the leaf base attached to the rhizome had the abili
ty to generate yellow-colored callus on LS medium supplemented with 1
mg/l 2,4-D and 0.1 mg/l KT in the dark. Yellow calli grew with partial
differentiation into white tissue, probably embryogenic, during subcu
lture on the same medium with a 16-h photoperiod. Only yellow-colored
calli with the white tissue could differentiate into plantlets after t
ransfer to kinetin- or gibberellin- supplemented LS medium. Regenerate
d plantlets which grew on the medium without growth regulators were tr
ansferred to the soil. After 2 years of cultivation in soil, the regen
erated plants flowered and formed rhizomes. The components of the esse
ntial oil in the rhizome of regenerated plants were essentially the sa
me as those in natural plants.