Development in vitro of surgically halved stamen primordia of tobacco

Tobacco stamen primordia at different developmental stages were surgically bisected and cultured while still attached to the floral meristem. The youngest incised primordia frequently regenerated two stamen primordia each with the characteristic four anther lobes. No regeneration was observed from the oldest stamen rudiments bisected and these formed only half-stamens. It is suggested that normally a stamen rudiment passes through a labile phase and that the pattern of the organ is subsequently fixed in the primordium.