An in vitro approach became necessary in order to meet the increasing demand and conservation of the natural population of the economically important leguminous tree, Albizzia lebbeck. For this purpose, a study was undertaken to determine the amenability of apical buds from in vitro seedlings of A. lebbeck for direct shoot regeneration. The explants from 7-day-old seedlings were plated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with 6- benzylaminopurine (BAP) and kinetin solely or in combinations of both at different concentrations. The best response (68.33%) with an average of 3-7 shoots per explant and shoot length of 4.47 ± 0.49 cms was observed on MS basal medium supplemented with 1 mg/L 6- benzylaminopurine. Kinetin was not found to be effective in induction of multiple shoot proliferation. In vitro rooting of the microshoots was tried in growth regulator-free as well as indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) or indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) fortified half strength MS medium. Highest rooting (55%) of the microshoots was achieved on half strength MS media supplemented with 1 mg/L indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) with an average of 2 shoots per shoot and shoot length of 3.87 ± 1.19 cms. Soilrite was found to be the best for acclimatization and establishment of the rooted plantlets, as compared to the other potting mixtures. The plantlets showed a survival percentage of 43.33%.
