Abstract

J. Espejo, M. Baeza, E. Ruiz, F. Mora, M. Gomez, and G. Montenegro. 2013. Propagation of Sophora toromiro through interspecific grafting to support species conservation. Cien Inv. Agr. 40(1):213-221. This report provides information on applying the cleft grafting technique in the species Sophora toromiro (Phil.) Skottsb., focused on its propagation, and contributes to the conservation of the genetic base of this species in the medium and long term. A germplasm collection was obtained via interspecific grafting using Sophora cassioides (Phil.) Sparre as rootstock, employing two variations of cleft grafting sealing. The survival of 301 S. toromiro grafts of the Titze line at ten months was 64% or 95%, according to the type of sealing performed. A second experiment, comparing the origin of the material, indicated that the plants of Goteborg origin showed survival values close to 63%, versus 58% for those from the Jardin Botanic Nacional de Vina del Mar (Chile). This work presents a new approach for the recovery of S. toromiro and other woody species that are classified as endangered or highly threatened through the cleft grafting technique, in this case, onto S. cassioides.