Amentotaxus formosana Li is endemic to southern Taiwan. Due to a small limited population,
this species had been conserved and protected. Seeds of A. formosana in its natural habitat are very
few, and natural generation by sprouting from basal stems was investigated. In this paper, stem
cutting and air layering techniques were used for vegetative propagation, and the growth of rooted
cuttings and air-layered twigs was measured. Further, seeds collected from air-layered plants were
germinated, and seedling growth was measured. A suitable time for stem cutting of A. formosana
was in October and November when bud dormancy began, and rooting percentages from 61 mother
trees were 13~100% within 6 mo. In 11 trees selected from 13-yr-old stem-cut trees and used
for air-layering treatment, rooting percentages increased in late March when tree sap began to flow
and further increased to high percentages of 89~100% in mid-July. There were great differences in
rooting percentages among mother trees treated with stem cutting and air-layering. Rooted cuttings
did not grow well, and > 90% died after 2 yr of cultivation in a nursery, but rooted small trees from
air-layering grew well, and the survival percentage was 82% after 4.5 yr of cultivation, while the
survival percentage of seedlings from seeds was 57.9% after 1.6 yr of cultivation. Air-layered rooted
twigs of A. formosana were planted in pods, and bud differentiation was induced in June; the
flowering percentage in all the planted trees was about 40%. However, the number of male flowers
per tree ranged 1.5~5.0 and that of female flowers was 1.0~10.8. Further, by hand pollination, the
maximum number of filled seeds per tree was 2.7 seeds. Rooted cuttings grew slowly, and the annual
average height was < 5 cm, while the annual average height of seedlings from seeds was 7.3
cm. However, the annual average height of rooted air-layer trees exceeded 10 cm due to budding
twice a year: vegetative buds first followed by reproductive buds.