In several genera of Cactaceae flowers are produced by a specialized, nonphotosynthetic portion of the stem known as the cephalium. The objective of this study is to test if cephalial tissue can be induced to revert to vegetative growth under in vitro conditions. Segments excised from the surface of Melocactus matanzanus cephalium and placed on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 0.1 mg l⁻¹ 1-napthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 1.0 or 5.0 mg l⁻¹ 6-benzyloaminopurine (BAP) regularly produced vegetative shoots. Shoots were also obtained when kinetin was used instead of BAP, although the frequency of their formation was then lower. One of the reverted shoots was successfully established as a rooted plant ex vitro.