Micropropagation of herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.)

This review highlights the advances made on various aspects of herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.) tissue culture, including the in vitro culture of underground buds, leaves and petioles, the induction of cluster buds, and callus induction. Tissue culture has the ability of speeding up the rate of propagation, reducing breeding time and meeting the needs of mass production. Problems that are currently being faced in herbaceous peony tissue culture are highlighted and possible viable solutions are provided. Since the vast majority of peony literature is published in Chinese, this review provides a unique and valuable resource and spring-board from which to initiate or further studies related to the in vitro culture of herbaceous peony.

► Herbaceous peony is an important ornamental with genetic origin in China.
► Paeonia lactiflora suffers from various weaknesses in tissue culture.
► This review comprehensively covers advances made on various aspects of tissue culture and micropropagation.
► Since most literature is published in Chinese, this is a unique window of information and valuable resource for future studies.