Abstract: Milletia puguensis is a distinctive liana found only in Pugu forest in Tanzania. The liana has difficulties in flowering and seeds setting, limiting possibilities of it being propagated through seeds. A vegetative method for its propagation is presented in this work. M. puguensis has been propagated through rooting of its single-node leafy stem cuttings in a non-mist plant propagator. While 54% of the cuttings rooted, 30% died and 16% were still alive but not rooted after 51 days in the propagator. Nodes 3 to 5 of the shoots showed very good rooting ability compared to other nodes. Rooted cuttings inoculated with live mycorrhizas, had significantly higher height, stem diameter and leaf area, after 133 days growth with the live mycorrhizal inoculum. In addition, there was a positive correlation between percent mycorrhizal infection, with cutting height, stem diameter and leaf area. From this work it can be concluded that, rooting of single-node leafy stem cuttings and mycorrhizal infections, can be effectively employed in propagation of the endangered liana M. puguensis for conservation purposes.
Keywords: Milletia puguensis, Stem cuttings, rooting, non-mist propagator, mycorrhizas.
Title: Propagation and mycorrhizal effects on Millettia puguensis (Fabaceae, Papilionoideae) a liana endemic to Pugu Forest Reserve, Tanzania
Author: Francis S. Magingo
International Journal of Life Sciences Research
ISSN 2348-313X (Print), ISSN 2348-3148 (online)
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