SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS IN TRANSYLVANIA

Californian redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), the two giants of the plant kingdom, grow in the forests of Sierra Nevada in California, but they can also be found in reservations or as natural monuments in various geographical regions. In Transylvania - Romania there are a few specimens of Sequoiadendron giganteum in the Botanical Garden in Cluj-Napoca and in the locality Rogojel – Cluj county, Ardusat – Maramures county, Oradea – Bihor county, Maderat – Arad, Baile Herculane – Caras Severin. Having in view the small number of specimens existing in this region as well as the difficulties regarding the propagation of this species, at the Fruit Research Station at Cluj – Romania, the in vitro propagation of S. sempervirens was studied. This paper presents the history of these specimens in Transylvania as well as aspects regarding the micropropagation of sequoia, such as: the number of shoots/vessel, the number of inoculi obtained/vessel and the multiplication rate on different variants of MS medium by using Plant Agar or Gelrite as gelling agents as well as liquid media with perlite as support matrix. Growth regulators, coconut water (100 ml/L, 200 ml/L and 400 ml/L), kinetin (1, 2, 5 and 10 mg/L) and benzyladenine (0.5 mg/L and 1 mg/L), as well as BAP (3 mg/L) and kinetin (0.2 mg/L) were used. Regarding multiplication rate, the best results were yielded by MS with 2 mg/L kinetin and hormone-free MS with Gelrite as gelling agent.