ABSTRACT
Alstroemeria (Alstroemeriaceae), commonly called the Peruvian Lily or Lily of the Incas or Parrot Lily is a South American genus of about 50 species of fl owering plants. Alstroemeria is named after the Swedish botanist Klas von Alstroemer, who was a pupil of the great botanical classifi er Linnaeus. Beautiful and durable fl owers of Alstroemeria (Fig. 1) place it among the important and desirable ornamentals on the global market. Floriculture industry is fast emerging as a commercial venture throughout the world with increasing per capita consumption of fl owers due to globalization and its effect on income generation. Rising demand has resulted in new production centres in Latin America, Africa and Asia, which were traditionally in USA, Japan, the Netherlands and Columbia. Alstroemeria spp. production has increased recently in Iran due to its demand as a cut fl ower. Traditionally, this plant is propagated by rhizome splitting, but this method of commercial propagation is confronted by viral contamination, low propagation rates and seasonal limitations. Seed propagation is also ineffi cient due to germination problems and segregation of traits in the progeny (Khaleghi et al. 2008). In order to overcome these problems and produce virus-free Alstroemeria plants, in vitro methods have attracted much attention. The global signifi cance and market position of this fl ower on the other hand necessitate the application of novel mass propagation techniques for its commercial production.
