EFFECT OF DIFFERENT PROPAGULE TYPES, GROWING MEDIA AND ROOTING HORMONES ON INITIAL SPROUTING OF THE MEDICINAL PLANT CYPERUS ROTUNDUS L.

Cey. J. Sci. (Bio. Sci.) Vol. 30,2002,165-178 165 EFFECT OF DIFFERENT PROPAGULE TYPES, GROWING MEDIA AND ROOTING HORMONES ON INITIAL SPROUTING OF THE MEDICINAL PLANT CYPERUS ROTUNDUS L. K.K.S.K. De Alwis, K.U. Tennkoon*, C.V.S. Guntilleke nd I.A.U.N. Guntilleke Deprtment of Botny, Fculty of Science, University of Perdeniy, Perdeniy, Sri Lnk. ABSTRACT This study exmined the effect of propgule type [full tuer with or without mother plnt, tuer cutting (disc) with or without visile ud], growth (wter or coir dust nd snd mixed in equl proportion) nd rooting hormones [Indole Butyric Acid (IBA) nd Nphthlene Acetic Acid (NAA)] on the propgtion success of Cyperus rotunds L. Percentge sprouting (95%) nd the mens of totl iomss per plnt nd lef numer per plnt were highest in plnts rised from propgules comprising the full tuer without the mother plnt treted with IBA. The mens of plnt height (27 cm) nd lef length per plnt (14 cm) were highest in the sme propgule type grown in coir nd snd, ut the numer of uds per plnt ws highest (1.7) when grown in wter. Key words Cyperus rotundus, Medicinl plnts, Propgtion, Growth medi INTRODUCTION Aout 75% of world popultion depends on trditionl medicine for their primry helth cre needs (Anon., 1996). A recent survey conducted y the World Helth Orgniztion (WHO) hs reveled tht out 70% of the popultion in Sri Lnk still relies on the indigenous system of medicine, sed minly on plnt formultions (Fernndo, 1999). The indigenous flor of Sri Lnk comprises round 3,350 species of higher plnts, of which nerly hlf is used for medicinl purposes (Fernndo, 1999). Nevertheless, 60 percent of the medicinl plnts required for the preprtion of medicines re imported, mostly from Indi (Anon., 1996). Inititives re now eing tken to promote the cultivtion of widely used medicinl plnts in Sri Lnk. Among the lrge numer of medicinl plnt species used in Ayurvedic medicine in Sri Lnk, Cyperus rotundus L. is widely used y the locl people (Koym, 1985). The tuers of this species contin effective compounds such s cyperene, cyperone, cyperol nd 1-pinene (Koym, 1985). It lso contins glycerides of oleic, plmitic nd linolic cids with smll quntities of essentil oil * Corresponding Author's E-mil: kushnt@pdn.c.lk

166 K.K.S.K. DeAlwiser/. (Loutfy, 1983). The tuers re used s remedy for spsms, s n emengogue or s n stringent nd ntiseptic. A pste mde with lime-juice is pplied to cne, scorpion stings nd ulcers with eneficil effect. Internlly, the tuers ct s stomchic, crmintive nd cholgogue with stringent properties nd re used in norexi, cute dyspepsi, dirrhoe, dysentery nd congestion of the liver (Jyweer, 1980). In the yer 2000, the mount of herl mteril used in Sri Lnk ws 2,218,075 kg, vlued t Sri Lnk Rs. 176,334,895.15 (Anon., 2001). This sme yer out 18,000 kg of C. rotundus hd een used y the Ayurvedic Deprtment for the preprtion of rnge of herl drugs; of this mount thirty-one percent (5,723 kg) ws used s fresh herl mteril nd 68.9% (12,654 kg) s dry herl mteril. The locl supply of medicinl plnts for the preprtion of Ayurved medicines is indequte to meet the current demnd. According to sources in the Ayurved Deprtment, nerly 20 metric tons of C. rotundus hve een imported from Indi. The nnul report of the Sri Lnk Customs (Anon., 1996) further documents tht the mount of C. rotundus imported to Sri Lnk ws 23 metric tons vlued t Rs. 1.1 million in 1993 nd 9 metric tons vlued t Rs 0.9 million in 1994. According to study crried out y the Sri Lnk Conservtion nd Sustinle use of Medicinl Plnts Project in yer 2000, the ntionl demnd for C. rotundus for the preprtion of herl medicines in Sri Lnk is 60.5 metric tons per nnum vlued t Rs. 4.9 million (Anon., 2001). These sttistics confirm the importnce of C. rotundus to the herl medicine industry in Sri Lnk A lrge numer of species hving medicinl properties re common weeds (Fernndo, 1999). C. rotundus is common weed in Sri Lnk nd it is further known s the 'world's worst weed' (Merley, 1989). Since C. rotundus is weed, it is importnt to collect tuers of C. rotundus free from weedicides nd pesticides in order to use them s medicinl ingredients. However, due to the rpid increse of weedicides nd pesticides in cultivted lnds in Sri Lnk it hs ecome incresingly difficult to otin uncontminted tuers of C. rotundus very often growing s weed in these lnds. Therefore, it hs ecome necessry to grow C. rotundus in systemtic mnner in res not contminted with weedicides nd pesticides in order to otin orgniclly grown qulity tuers for the preprtion of herl medicine. Another very common prolem encountered with the collection of C. rotundus is the difficulty in identifiction of the correct species mong lrge numer of similr or relted tx (150 in numer; Senrtne, 2001) in the sme fmily. The typicl chrcter of C. rotundus tht cn e used to differentite it from other closely resemling species is the positioning of the rcts t the se of the mture inflorescence. The rcts of C. rotundus originte from the se of the inflorescence nd re s long s or shorter thn the mture inflorescence (Koym, 1985). As the study species is considered to e common weed in mny tropicl countries, most reserch on C. rotundus hs een crried out to develop methods to control its spred (Bhrgv nd Soti, 2000; Blum et l, 2000; Pndey nd

Growth of the medicinl plnt Cyperus rotundus 167 Pdhir, 1999; Rjendrn nd Lourdurj, 1999; Reddy et l, 1998; Sthyvelu el l, 1999; Mrme, 1998). Studies relted to the methods of propgtion, nursery estlishment nd gronomicl prctices of this species re not reported very often. In this pper, we report simple nd cost effective vegettive propgtion techniques tht could e used to rise lrge numer of C. rotundus plnts nd the growth conditions required in order to meet the demnd of orgniclly grown plnts free of pesticides nd other hzrdous chemicls. We specificlly exmined the following: (i) The propgtion success of the species using four different propgule types, viz., the full tuer with or without the mother plnt nd horizontl slices of the tuer (disc) with or without visile ud. (ii) The effect of two different growth medi (wter or coir dust nd snd mixed in equl proportion) nd two rooting hormones, Indole Butyric Acid (IBA) nd Nphthlene Acetic Acid (NAA), on the propgtion success of the different propgule types of C. rotundus. MATERIALS AND METHODS Propgtion of C. rotundus cn e done either vegettively or reproductively (Hrtmnn et l, 1997). In this study we considered the vegettive propgtion techniques tht could e used to rise lrge numer of plnts of C. rotundus. Propgtion y tuers cn e done either y plnting the entire tuers or y cutting them in to sections, ech contining one or more xillry uds or "eyes" (Hrtmnn et l, 1997). A tuer is specil kind of swollen, modified stem structure tht functions s n underground storge orgn (Hrtmnn et l, 1997). The experiments on vegettive propgtion of C. rotundus using tuers were estlished in My 2001 using four types of propgule types viz., (i) full tuer with mother plnt, (ii) full tuer without the mother plnt, (iii) tuer cutting (disc) with ud nd (iv) tuer cutting (disc) without visile ud (Fig. 1). The plnt mteril used for this study ws otined from Ktugstot in the Kndy district. The verge size of the tuers with or without the mother plnts used s propgules were out 1-3 cm in length nd 0.S-1.S cm in width. The size of the tuer cuttings (discs) with or without visile ud, used s propgules were 0.5-1.5 cm dimeter nd 2-3 mm in length. All four propgule types were then sujected to different sustrte tretments to find out the est tretment type to otin new plntlets from them. One set (60 propgules) ech of the propgule types ws plnted in Styrofom trys contining equl prts of snd nd coir dust s the. Another set of the propgule type ws grown in shllow trys, which contined wter s the growth. A third set of propgule type ws treted with 3000 mg/1 of the commercilly ville rooting hormone Nphthlene Acetic Acid (Secto) nd finlly the fourth set with 3000 mg/1 Indole Butyric Acid (IBA). These were mintined in plnt house t n verge temperture of 27 C nd reltive humidity of 80%. The mximum instntneous light intensity received y ll plnts ws 890 umol m" 2 s" 1. The study ws set out

168 K.K.S.K. De Alwis ell. s fctoril experiment, which included two min fctors (the different propgule types nd the different growth medi), ech t four levels. Figure 1. Four propgule types used in the vegettive propgtion experiments of Cyperus rotundus. i) Full tuer with mother plnt, ii) full tuer without mother plnt, Hi) tuer cutting (discs) with ud nd iv) tuer cutting (discs) without visile ud. Assessment of sprouting nd growth performnce of newly emerged plnts Sprouting of ech propgule type nd the growth performnce of the new plnts, in terms of plnt height, numer of leves per plnt, verge lef length per plnt were recorded only for period of two weeks s our ojective ws to find out the initil propgtion success of the propgules nd the growth performnce of newly emerged plnts. The Numer of new uds tht emerged from ech propgule type ws counted. In the newly emerged plnts, plnt height ws mesured from the se to the tip of the longest lef nd lef length from top of the lef sheth to the lef tip. After growth mesurements were recorded, the whole plnts were uprooted nd oven dried (80 C) until constnt weight ws otined. Totl ove ground nd elow ground iomss of new plnts were determined seprtely. The numer of new uds tht emerged nd llometric mesurements of the new plnts were nlyzed using nlysis of vrince (ANOVA) in the Generl Liner Model (GLM) procedure of the Sttisticl Anlysis System (SAS) version

Growth of the medicinl plnt Cyperus rotundus 169 6.12. All dt on percentge sprouting were rcsine trnsformed prior to nlysis. Anlyses were tested for differences mong propgule types [full tuer with mother plnt, full tuer without mother plnt, tuer cuttings (discs) with ud, tuer cuttings (discs) without visile ud], differences mong growth medi (wter sustrte, sustrte comprising coir dust nd snd mixed in equl proportions, propgules treted with Secto nd IBA nd then plnted in the of coir dust nd snd mixed in equl proportions) nd the interctions etween propgule types nd the growth medi. Approprite mens of the rw dt were used to plot the grphs. RESULTS Percentge sprouting The proportion of sprouting in Cyperus rotundus ws significntly different (P < 0.001 level) mong the four propgule types tested, mong the sustrte tretments nd their interction (P < 0.05 level) (Tle 1). Tle 1 Vrince rtios (F-vlues) nd significnce (* p< 0.05; ** p< 0.01; *** p< 0.001, ns - not significnt) following two wy nlysis of vrince on mesurements of four types of propgules fter two weeks of growth under different tretments. Mesurements were tken under plnt house conditions (men temperture 27 C, men reltive humidity 80% nd the mximum instntneous light intensity 890 umol m" 2 s" 1 ). Two wy nlysis Propgule type Sustrte tretment Replicte Propgule X sustrte tretment F- vlues nd significnce level Percentge sprouting 35.31*** 15.44*** 0.46 ns 2.97* No. of new uds tht emerged 8.65*** 8.35*** 3.49* 1.68 ns One wy nlyses Differences mong sustrte tretment within single propgule type Full tuer with mother plnt Full tuer without mother plnt Tuer cuttings (discs) with ud Tuer cuttings (discs) without ud Differences mong propgule types within single sustrte tretment wter Coir: snd (1:1) Secto treted nd estlished in coir dust nd snd IBA treted nd estlished in coir dust nd snd 2.35 " 3 4ns 10.2* 9.82** 4.66 1,5 5.79* 40.95**- 7.10* 4.17** 3.5* 2.12" 13.19 ns 4.64** 1.65 ns 1.21 ns 7.19 ***

170 K.K.S.K. DeAlwisef/. Among the growth medi, the differences in the percentges of sprouting oserved y tuers with or without mother plnts were not significnt. On the other hnd, the percentge sprouting of the different propgule types in ech of the sustrtes ws significnt, except in wter (Tle 1). Among the four propgule types grown in ech sustrte, full tuers without mother plnts gve the highest percentge sprouting; those trnsplnted in coir dust nd snd fter tretment with IBA showed 95% sprouting nd tht without ny rooting hormone 83%. Percent sprouting ws lest when discs of oth types were treted with Secto (15%) nd grown in the snd nd coir (1:1) (Fig. 2). Except when the full tuer with the mother plnt ws used, ll other propgule types hd significntly lower percentge sprouting when treted with Secto nd grown in coir dust nd snd (Tle 2). Tle 2 Sttisticl differences in percentge sprouting of ech propgule type of Cyperus rotundus grown in the four different sustrte tretments. Letters qulittively (>>c) indicte row-wise, the significnt differences mong tretments for ech propgule type t P< 0.05 level. Propgule type Propgules grown in wter Propgules plnted in coir nd snd Secto treted propgules plnted in coir dust nd snd IBA treted propgules grown in coir dust nd snd Full tuer without mother Plnt Full tuer with mother Plnt Tuer cuttings (discs) with ud Tuer cuttings (discs) without visile ud c Numer of new uds formed from propgules The men numer of new uds tht formed per propgule vried significntly mong the different propgule types nd mong the different tretments ut the interction etween propgule types nd tretments ws not significnt (Tle 1).

Propgule in Propgule in coir Secto treted IBA treted wter nd snd propgule estlished propgules estlished in coir dust nd snd in coir dust nd snd Figure 2. Percentge sprouting of Cyperus rotundus using four different propgule types nd grown in four different sustrte tretments. Letters qulittively (>>c) indicte the significnt differences mong plnting mteril within ech tretment t P< 0.05 level. Compring the performnce of ech propgule type in the different sustrt, the numer of new uds tht emerged in ll propgule types, except in cuttings without visile ud, ws significntly different (Tles 1 nd 3). Among the four propgule types grown in wter nd in those treted with IBA nd then estlished in coir dust nd snd, the numer of new uds tht emerged differed significntly. In oth these medi, full tuers with nd without the mother plnt grew significntly higher numer of uds compred to tht rising from discs without visile ud. All the propgule types treted with or without Secto nd then estlished in coir dust nd snd did not show ny significnt differences (Tle 1, Figure 3). Tle 3 The formtion of new uds of Cyperus rotundus using four different propgule types grown in four different sustrte tretments. Letters qulittively (>>c) indicte row-wise significnt differences mong sustrtes within ech propgule type t I' 0.05 level. Propgule type Full tuer with out mother Plnt Full tuer with mother Plnt Tuer cuttings (discs) with ud Tuer cuttings (discs) without visile ud Propgule grown in wter Propgule grown in coir nd snd Secto treted propgule grown in coir dust nd snd IBA treted propgule grown in coir dust nd snd

172 K.K.S K De Alwiser/ Full tuer without mother plnt Tuer cuttings (discs) with ud Propgule in Propgule in coir Secto treted IBA treted wter nd snd propgule estlished propgules estlished in m dust nd snd in coir dust nd snd Figure 3. The formtion of new uds from different types of Cyperus rotundus propgules grown in four different sustrte tretments. Letters qulittively (>>c) indicte the significnt differences mong plnting mteril within ech tretment t P< 0.05 level. Growth performnce of new plnts All the growth vriles of new plnts (men plnt height, men lef length nd men iomss) were significntly different mong propgules, mong different tretments nd their interctions, except the interction for iomss (Tle 4). Comprison of the performnce of the new plnts tht emerged from ech propgule type grown in the different sustrtes, showed significnt differences in men plnt height, men numer of leves per plnt nd men lef length. Men iomss ws only significntly different mong the sustrtes only in plnts rised from full tuers with the mother plnts nd in tuer cuttings with ud. The different propgule types showed significnt differences in ll llometric mesures, except men iomss, when grown with nd without Secto nd trnsplnted to coir dust nd snd. Performnce of propgules treted with IBA nd trnsferred to coir dust nd snd ws significntly different for ll mesures except plnt height, nd those grown in wter showed significnt difference only for iomss (Tle 4). Mens of plnt height, lef length nd iomss of new plnts were significntly lower in those rised from tuer cuttings (discs) with or without visile ud grown in wter, compred to the corresponding vlues recorded for the other plnting mterils (Fig. 4). Growth performnces of new plnts, in terms of men plnt height, men lef length nd men iomss were significntly higher (P < 0.001 level) when rised from full tuers without mother plnt nd grown in the coir dust nd snd. The performnce of plnts rised from oth types»

Growth of the medicinl plnt Cyperus rotundus 173 Tle 4 Vrince rtios (F-vlues) nd significnce levels (*p< 0.05; **p<0.01; ***p< 0.001, nsnot significnt) following two wy nlysis of vrince on mesurements of four types of propgules fter two weeks growth under different sustrte tretments. Mesurements were tken under plnt house conditions (men temperture 27 C, men reltive humidity 80% nd the mximum instntneous light intensity of 890 pmol m' 2 s" 1 ). Two wy nlysis F- Vlues nd significnce level Men Men lef Men lef Men plnt numer per length per iomss height plnt plnt per plnt Propgule type 11.02*** 56.09*** 36.87*** 7.03*** Sustrte tretment 45.86*** 36.76*** 57.23*** 6.22** Replicte 11.11*** 5.7** 4.17* 3.15** Propgule x sustrte tretment 7.42*** 16.01*** 8.28*** 1.21ns One wy nlysis Differences mong sustrtes within single propgule type Full tuer with mother plnt 6.45** 29.04*** 29.86*** 30.40*** Full tuer without mother plnt 61.18*** 36.22*** 34.94*** 2.46 ns Tuer cuttings (discs) with ud 9.08*** 6.35** 10.10*** 8.12*** Tuer cuttings (discs) without visile ud Differences mong propgule types within single sustrte tretment 4.17** 3.3* 3.43* 0.36 wter 1.8 1.71 M 1.98"* 2.18* Coir: snd (1:1) 19.16*** 4.45** 14.13*** 16.42*** Secto treted nd estlished in coir dust nd snd IBA treted nd estlished in coir dust nd snd 4.63** 17.82*** 10.75*** 0.86 r 0.88"* 79.13*** 20.72*** 31.7*** of tuers treted with IBA or Secto nd trnsplnted in the coir dust nd snd showed significntly higher performnce for ll mesurements, except plnt height, compred to their performnce in the two remining sustrte medi (Fig. 4). Comprison of the performnce of propgules types in ech of the sustrte tretments (Tle 5) showed the following: men plnt height ws significntly higher (p < 0.001 level) in plnts rised from ll propgule types treted with or without IBA nd grown in coir dust nd snd, compred to those grown in wter. Men numer of leves on the other hnd, ws significntly

174 K.K.S.K DeAlwis ell. _\ Full tuer without mother plnt f$j Tuer cuttings (discs) with ud Propgules Propgules Secto treted ISA treted grown in wler grown in coir propgule propzin ntj 9 s n (j estlished in estlished in c o " dust i, n i l c o i r dusl snd nd snd Figure 4. Growth performnce of two week old Cyperus rotundus, plnts rised from four types of propgules nd grown in four different sustrtes. Letters qulittively (>>c) indicte the sttisticl differences in performnce mong different types of propgules within ech sustrte tretment t P<0.05 level (n = 60). higher in plnts rised from full tuers treted with hormones nd grown in coir dust nd snd. Plnts rised from tuer cuttings in contrst, produced significntly more leves in the coir dust nd snd. Lef length of new plnts rised showed trend similr to tht of lef numer. Biomss of plnts rised from ech of the propgule types, except from tuer cuttings with visile ud, vried significntly (p < 0.001 level) mong the sustrte medi (Tle 5).

Growth of the medicinl plnt Cyperus rotundus 175 Tle 5 Sttisticl differences in growth performnces of the newly emerged plnts of Cyperus rotundus two weeks fter propgules were plnted. Four different types of propgules were grown in different sustrte medi. Letters qulittively (>>c) indicte row-wise sttisticl differences in performnce mong medi for ech propgule type t p < 0.05 level (n - 60). Propgule Type Propgules grown in wter Propgules grown in coir dust nd snd Secto treted nd grown in coir dust nd snd IBA treted nd grown in coir dust nd snd Men plnt height Full tuer with out mother Plnt c e Full tuer with mother Plnt Tuer cuttings (discs) with ud Tuer cuttings (discs) without visile ud Men numer of leves per plnt Full tuer with out mother Plnt d c Full tuer with mother Plnt Tuer cuttings (discs) with ud Tuer cuttings (discs) without visile ud Averge lef length Full tuer with out mother Plnt c Full tuer with mother Plnt c Tuer cuttings (discs) with ud Tuer cuttings (discs) without visile ud Men Lef iomss Full tuer without mother Plnt Full tuer with mother Plnt Tuer cuttings (discs) with ud Tuer cuttings (discs) without visile ud DISCUSSION The results demonstrte tht the percentge sprouting nd men numer of sprouted uds from ll four propgule types were high when grown in wter, ut susequent growth (in terms of plnt height, lef numer nd length nd iomss) ws reltively poor in wter. When full tuers were plced in wter, ll the conditions fvorle for ud formtion were met except for the full supply of nutrients. However, nutrients re required from the sustrte nd t the sme time

176 K.K.S.K. DeAlwise/o/. the sustrte lso nchors the growing plnt. Adequte levels of ll nutrients re not present in wter unless they re supplemented. Hence, it cn e ssumed tht food resources in the tuers re solely mde ville for the newly emerged plnts to grow. A comintion of ll there fctors my e responsile in retrding the susequent growth of C. rotundus plnts in wter. According to Slisury nd Ross (1985) potto tuers (underground stem), exhiit stem chrcteristics such s 'eyes' (xillry uds). These uds remin inctive in response to the presence of the picl ud. When the picl shoot of the potto is removed to produce seed pieces (propgules), the picl dominnce is lost nd new shoots emerge from the xillry uds. Similr to potto tuers, xillry uds of C. rotundus tuers grow when the tuers re cut in to discs. The principle of the sprouting mechnism of C. rotundus tuer cuttings (discs) is lso very much similr to this phenomenon. In generl, percentge sprouting nd ud formtion re low when ll the propgule types were treted with hormones (Secto nd IBA) efore they were trnsplnted to the comprising coir dust nd snd in equl proportions. However, the susequent growth performnce is high in these tretments. The use of synthetic uxins to induce root formtion on cuttings hs now een stndrd prctice in horticulture for over 40 yers (Luckwill, 1981). Slisury nd Ross (1985) hve reported tht, similr compounds synthesized rtificilly could lso cuse mny physiologicl responses. As in mny other instnces reported for Alnus nitid Endl., Tecton grndis Linn.f., Glycine mx, Artocrpus heterophyllus Lm., Quercus leucotrichophor, Cerer mnghs, Pelrgonium grveolens, (Singh nd Singh, 1996; Kjornsrichon et l, 1998; Liu et l., 1998; Sengupt nd Thkur, 2000; Sushm et l., 2000; nd Thtoi et l, 2000) C. rotundus tuers too, positively responded to NAA nd IBA. However, in this study full tuers, compred to tuer cuttings (discs), of C. rotundus treted with hormones showed high percentge sprouting. In the smll tuer cuttings, the externl ppliction of hormones might hve induced n inhiitory effect due to ethylene formtion s reported for pe nd sunflower y Burg nd Burg (1966). Ethylene in turn cuses the swelling nd inhiition of the growth of susequent tissues. The numer of uds tht emerged from propgules grown in wter ws higher thn tht in coir dust nd snd. This my e due to the mrginlly lower ph (6.84) vlue of the compred to tht in wter (ph 7.2). However, the susequent etter performnce in coir dust nd snd my e minly due to the provision of suitle for nchorge of the plnt. Also the coir dust might hve lso provided supplementry nutrients required for these plnts. The plntlets tht emerged from propgules treted with Secto nd IBA hormones nd susequently plced on coir nd snd showed much etter performnce thn those grown in wter. Tiz nd Ziegler (1998) hve reported tht the cell wlls of uxin treted plnts hve greter cpcity for growth

Growth of the medicinl plnt Cyperus rotundus 177 in cidic medi thn in neutrl medi. A similr phenomenon my e ttriuted to the enhnced growth of plnts rised from uxin treted propgules rised in coir dust nd snd, where ph is slightly low (ph= 6.4) due to the presence of orgnic cids in coir dust. From these findings, we cn conclude tht the est method to otin lrge numer of C. rotundus plnts is y using full tuers without the mother plnt. Percentge sprouting nd numer of uds tht emerged from this propgule type were high when wter ws used s the growth. However, the growth performnce of plnts ws low when they were llowed to grow for longer periods in the sme wter. Therefore, we recommend tht, the newly emerged plnts should e trnsplnted in to such s coir dust nd snd mixed in equl proportions. According to results of our ongoing experiments (results not shown here) preliminry plnts with height of out 9 cm or ove is the est stge for susequent trnsplnting in to the growth. However, in cse of short supply of tuers, tuer cuttings (discs) with or without ud could e used s propgules to otin lrge numer of plnts over short period of time. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Finncil support provided y the Sri Lnk Conservtion nd Sustinle Use of Medicinl Plnts Project nd the Ntionl Science Foundtion (Grnt No. NSF/RSP/2001/PGIS/01) re grtefully cknowledged. REFERENCES Anon. (1996). An Investment Proposl for the Conservtion nd Sustinle Use of Medicinl Plnts in Sri Lnk. The World Conservtion Union Sri Lnk. Pp. 52. Anon. (2001). Sttistics on the Ntionl Demnd for Medicinl Plnts. Sri Lnk Conservtion nd Sustinle Use of Medicinl Plnts Project. Pp. 82. Bhrgv, A.K. nd Soti, A.K. (2000). Detection of Indin penut clump virus in the weeds present in the infested fields of Archis hypoge. Journl of Mycology nd Plnt Pthology, Indi 30(1): 114-115. Blum, R.R., Isgrigg, J. nd Yelverton, F.H. (2000). Purple (Cyperus rotundus) nd yellow nut sedge (C. esculentus) control in Bermud grss (Cynodon dctylon) turf. Weed-Technology 14(2): 357-365. Burg, S.P. nd Burg, E.A. (1966). The Interction Between Auxin nd Ethylene nd its Role in Plnt Growth. Proceedings of the Ntionl Acdemy of Science 55(2): 262-269. Fernndo, S. (1999). Herl Food nd Medicines Eductionl Pulictions, Sri Lnk. in Sri Lnk., Smpth

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