AUXIN AND GROWTH OF EXCISED ROOTS OF Bryophyllum calycinum.

Exogenous auxin (alpha-naphthalene acetic acid, indole acetic acid, or 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) was essential for the growth of single excised root tips of Bryophyllum calycinum in 50 ml of a mineral salt-sucrose medium supplemented with vitamins. Large inocula with a dry weight of 2.0 mg or more grew with no auxin added to the medium. Evidence for the synthesis of auxin by the excised roots grown from the larger inocula is presented. Leaching of auxin from single root tips cultivated in 15 or 50 ml of basal medium is considered to account for their failure to grow.