Haemaria discolor var, dawsoniana is an orchid with beautiful red-green striped leaves, which can be used as an ornamental or for medical purposes. Seeds of H. discolor in Murashige & Skoog (MS) medium or Hyponex (#1,2 and 3) agar media germinated. In MS medium the germination rate was optimal in 20 and 30 g/l of sucrose, but the germination rate was only 34%. However, in Hyponex #1 and H. #3 agar media, the germination rate was 60-63% within 60 days at room temperatures. Vegetative growth of the H, discolor seedlings in phytotrons was best with a 30/25 degreesC day/night temperature regimes. Light microscopy and SEM observation showed that the cortex of roots could be infected by the orchid mycorrhizal fungi (OMF), and typical orchid mycorrhizal structures of "tolypophagy" with young and old pelotons were present in the same root. Of seven Rhizoctonia spp. isolates, only R.01 and R.02 enhanced seed germination of H, discolor, but the germination rate was only 5% and 37% respectively. For the inoculation of Rhizoctonia sp. in vitro, oat meal agar (OMA) medium was a simple effective medium. The growth of the H. discolor seedlings in vitro was enhanced by the inoculation of Rhizoctonia sp. encoded as R.01 and R.02. For practical use, seeds of H, discolor should be asymbiotically germinated in Hyponex # 3 agar medium with 20 g of sucrose, and the protocorms or small seedlings should be inoculated near the roots with R.01 or R.02 isolate after subculturing into OMA medium.
