Fully differentiated higher plants may be regenerated from undifferentiated plant tissues, such as callus, derived from mature seeds, immature embryos, stems, roots, or leaves. The present invention provides a plant regeneration method from mature seed-derived calli. The regeneration procedure may include the induction of calli on the MS media containing 2 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 0.2 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine, 4 mg/L thiamine-HCl, and 100 mg/L &agr;-ketoglutaric acid. The plant regeneration efficiency is the highest when calli are grown on the MS media supplemented with 3% maltose and 1 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine or 1 mg/L thidiazuron (TDZ). The invention can be utilized to introduce a gene or genes of agronomically important values into the zoysiagrass or possibly closely related turfgrass species.