Root cultures of Gloriosa superba were treated with 5 mM methyl jasmonate and 125 mu M AlCl3 which enhanced the intracellular colchicine content of the roots by 50-fold and 63-fold, respectively. Ten millimolar of CaCl2 and 1 mM CdCl2 enhanced biomass significantly (7- to 8.6-fold, respectively) while maximum release of colchicine into the medium was obtained with 10 mM CdCl2. Casein hydrolysate, yeast extract and silver nitrate had no signi. cant effect on growth and colchicine accumulation in root cultures.