Abstract
Stachys sieboldii Miq. (the Chinese artichoke) is a herbaceous perennial plant of the Lamiaceae family. Stachys sieboldii grows spontaneously in China. Its tubers are edible, and introduced as a vegetable since 1888 by dr. M.T. MASTERS. As a legume, it was brought into culture in Europe, North America, Japan. The cultivated forms were ammeliorated, its tubers reached higher sizes than the spontaneous forms. This species is also used to cure high fever, diarrhoea, sore throats, internal bleeding, heart or liver diseases. Regarding our study, the vegetal material used for the in vitro cultures was provided by the Botanical Gardens “Anastasie Fătu” from Iași, and the one from conventional cultures was harvested from an experimental plot situated in Racova village (the county of Bacău). This study aimed to bring up data on the individuals provided in vitro, and also on the plants grown in conventional cultures. The morpho - physiological indices were biometrically analyzed on test groups of 50 individuals each, during 2008 and 2009. The analyzed parameters were: root length, tuber length, aerial stem length, fresh and dry biomass of roots and tubers. The survival rate of the regenerants provided in vitro on Murashige – Skoog (MS) medium was of about 80 % after their transfer on the experimental plot. The plants in conventional cultures were obtained by means of tubers.