Tissue culture techniques were standardized for mass multiplication and maintenance of 18 Helianthus species using shoot apices and nodal explants from mature field grown plants. Meristematic explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium supplemented with varying concentrations of kinetin and benzyladenine (BA). Irrespective of the plant habit and ploidy, medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/l benzyladenine was found best for obtaining good axillary proliferation with less vitrification. Shoots from the multiplication medium were directly acclimatized bypassing the labour-intensive rooting stage. Plantlets thus obtained were successfully established in the field with a frequency of 66.5 to 100% and grown to maturity.