Cotyledon of Panax ginseng was cultured in the growth regulator-free Knudson C medium comprising only several kinds of mineral salts and sucrose. Shoot primordium or callus developed profusely from the cotyledonary tissue and finally plantlets were produced directly from the shoot primordium or indirectly through callus. Microscopic examination revealed that the epidermal cell as well as the mesophyll cell of the cotyledon became meristematic and divided, changing into multinucleate cell or multicellular body, eventually developing into either a shoot primordium or callus.