Abstract: Leaves of Momordica grosvenori Swingle were used as experimatal material. Plantlets were obtained on MS medium supplemented with 6-BA 1 ppm and IBA 0.5 ppm. Histocytological observations on adventitious bud formation were carried out. After 1 week in culture, mesophyll cells obviously enlarged, cell divisions began in the mesophyll cells near the cut ends of explants, and meristemoids which consisted of small dark stained cells without chloroplasts were produced. Then meristemoids continued to proliferate and redifferentiated into many leaf-shaped bodies. Three weeks after cultivation, adiventitious buds were produced from meristemoids at surface layer of leaf-shaped body. The stem of plantlet was cut off when it reached 2 cm in height, and then was transferred onto MS basic medium supplemented with NAA 0.25–0.5 ppm for rooting. About 10 days after cultivation, vigorous root system was produced from the cut end of plantlets. It is possible that this technique of obtaining whole plants by leaf explant culture provides a method for the multiplication of the good individual plants of M. grosvenori.

Key words: Momordica grosvenori, Leaf explant culture, Leaf-shaped body, Redifferentiation