Wednesday 3 February 2010

India Rubber Tree



 

 Common name: Rubber Tree, Rubber Plant, India Rubber Tree, Indian Rubber Bush
Rubber Tree is native to NE India, the eastern Himalayas, and SE Asia. It is very easy to grow and care for. It grows up to 30-40 m tall.  It has broad shiny oval leaves .  The leaves develop inside a reddish sheath at the tip of branches, . It grows larger as the new leaf develops. When it is mature, it unfurls and the sheath drops off the plant. Inside the new leaf, another immature leaf is waiting to develop. The small stalkless, yellow-green oval figs,  grow in pairs.  The tree can yield a milky white latex, which has been used to make rubber.

Botanical name: Ficus elastic    Family: Moraceae (Mulberry family)

Picture taken at Mahalaxmi, Mumbai.

2 comments:

  1. Isn't this anthurium? Or does that remain a plant and not grow into a tree??

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  2. In the anthurium the flowers are crowded on the spike. Here the spike are the leaves that open out. And anthrium is a plant as far as I know. This is a medium sized tree - especially the one I saw.

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