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Abstract
Redbay (Persea borbonia), swamp bay (Persea palustris), sassafras (Sassafras albidum), Georgia oak (Quercus georgiana), and Oglethorpe oak (Quercus oglethorpensis) are all forest tree species native to the southeastern United States that are rare in the landscape and/or facing a significant threat from introduced insects and pathogens. In an effort to iad in the conservation of these trees, we established somatic embryogenesis induction procedures for all five species, with this being the first report of somatic embryogenesis in redbay, swamp bay, sassafras, and Oglethorpe oak. Complete somatic plantlet regeneration of Georgia oak is also being reported for the first time. In addition, a method of re-inducing embryogenic cultures was explored to overcome the senescence of embryogenic culture lines.