A protocol for in vitro plant regeneration through somatic embryogenesis was developed in Agapanthus praecox ssp. orientalis L. ‘Big Blue’. Three types of explants, i.e. caudexes, pedicels, and young leaves were used to induce callus on Murashige and Skoog (1962) medium supplemented with plant growth regulators. After two months of culture, yellowish callus was obtained at a frequency up to 53% from caudexes on medium containing 0.5 mg l^-1 picloram (PIC) and from pedicels containing 3.0 mg l^-1 PIC. Forty percent of young leaves produced callus on MS medium with 2.0 mg l^-1 PIC and 0.4 mg l^-1 BAP. These calluses developed further into embryogenic callus on medium with 1.0 mg l^-1 PIC, and could be maintained by monthly subculture. When EC was transferred onto maturation medium to induce somatic embryoids, the highest number of embryo structures, up to 72 from 100 mg fresh weight of calluses, was achieved on a medium with 0.1 mg l^-1 BAP and 45 g l^-1 sucrose. Seventy-nine percent of the heart-shaped embryoids germinated into plantlets, 82% of which had a well developed root system. Histological observation proved that the mechanism of plant regeneration was via somatic embryogenesis.