Establishment of shoot cultures: Corms were collected from natural habitat before flowering period and were washed in running top water for 24 h and outer scales were removed. Corms were surface-sterilized with 70% EtOH for 17 min and with 4.5% sodiumhypochlorite for 20 min, consecutively and washed three times with sterilized distilled water. Lateral buds with approximately 3 mm edge were removed from sterilized corms.