''Ficus elastica'', the rubber fig, rubber bush, rubber tree, rubber plant, or Indian rubber bush, Indian rubber tree, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...

in the family

Moraceae The Moraceae — often called the mulberry family or fig family — are a family of flowering plants comprising about 38 genera and over 1100 species. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates; however ...

, native to eastern parts of South and Southeast Asia. It has become naturalized in Sri Lanka, the West Indies, and the US state of Florida.

Description

It is a large tree in the

banyan A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

group of figs, growing to – rarely up to – tall, with a stout trunk up to in diameter. The trunk develops aerial and buttressing roots to anchor it in the soil and help support heavy branches. It has broad shiny oval leaves long and broad; leaf size is largest on young plants (occasionally to long), much smaller on old trees (typically long). The leaves develop inside a sheath at the apical

meristem The meristem is a type of tissue found in plants. It consists of undifferentiated cells (meristematic cells) capable of cell division. Cells in the meristem can develop into all the other tissues and organs that occur in plants. These cells conti ...

, which 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.

Pollination and fruiting

As with other members of the genus ''

Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extendi ...

'', the flowers require a particular species of

fig wasp Fig wasps are wasps of the superfamily Chalcidoidea which spend their larval stage inside figs. Most are pollinators but others simply feed off the plant. The non-pollinators belong to several groups within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, while the ...

to pollinate it in a co-evolved relationship. Because of this relationship, the rubber plant does not produce highly colourful or fragrant flowers to attract other pollinators. The fruit is a small yellow-green oval fig long, barely edible; these are fake fruits that contain fertile seeds only in areas where the

pollinating Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds, a ...

insect is present.

Range

The natural range of ''F. elastica'' extends from Nepal in the north to Indonesia,

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

Northeastern India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

in China, and Malaysia. It has been widely introduced in most tropical regions of the world, including Hawaii and the West Indies. In Europe, it can be found in mild locations throughout the

Mediterranean Basin In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...

Cultivation and uses

In parts of India, people guide the roots of the tree over chasms to eventually form living bridges.

Ornamental

''Ficus elastica'' is grown around the world as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

, outside in frost-free climates (though it also tolerates light frosts) from the tropical to the Mediterranean and inside in colder climates as a houseplant. Although it is grown in Hawaii, the species of fig wasp required to allow it to spread naturally is not present there. Most cultivated plants are produced by

vegetative propagation Vegetative reproduction (also known as vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication or cloning) is any form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment or cutting of the parent plant or spec ...

. This can be done by cuttings or by

layering Layering has evolved as a common means of vegetative propagation of numerous species in natural environments. Layering is also utilized by horticulturists to propagate desirable plants. Natural layering typically occurs when a branch touches ...

. All parts of the plant contain an abundant milky white

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...

, which has been tested for use in the manufacture of

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

, but without economic and technical results; commercial rubber is actually produced from the sap of the ''

Hevea brasiliensis ''Hevea brasiliensis'', the Pará rubber tree, ''sharinga'' tree, seringueira, or most commonly, rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae originally native to the Amazon basin, but is now pa ...

''. In cultivation, it prefers bright sunlight but not hot temperatures. It has a high tolerance for drought, but prefers humidity and thrives in wet, tropical conditions. Ornamental hybrids (such as Robusta) have been derived from ''Ficus elastica'' with broader, stiffer and more upright leaves than the wild form. Many such hybrids exist, often with

variegated Variegation is the appearance of differently coloured zones in the leaves and sometimes the stems and fruit of plants. Species with variegated individuals are sometimes found in the understory of tropical rainforests, and this habitat is the ...

leaves.

Latex

''Ficus elastica'' yields a milky white latex, a chemical compound separate from its sap and carried and stored in different

cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...

. This latex was formerly used to make rubber, but it should not be confused with the Pará rubber tree (''Hevea brasiliensis''), the main commercial source of latex for rubber making. Just as with ''Hevea brasiliensis'', the latex of ''Ficus elastica'' is an irritant to the eyes and skin and is toxic if taken internally.MacDonald, Elvin "The World Book of House Plants" Popular Books

Gallery

File:Ficus elastica - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-206.jpg, Illustration from ''

Köhler's Medicinal Plants ''Köhler's Medicinal Plants'' (or, ''Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen'') is a German herbal written principally by Hermann Adolph Köhler (1834 - 1879, physician and chemist), and edited after his death by Gustav Pabst. The work was first publishe ...

'' (1887) File:Living bridge formed of the aërial roots (33071614871).jpg, An 1854 illustration of ''Ficus elastica'' trained as a

living bridge A living root bridge is a type of simple suspension bridge formed of living plant roots by tree shaping. They are common in the southern part of the Indian state of Meghalaya. They are handmade from the aerial roots of rubber fig trees (' ...

File:Ficus elastica Ficus lutea.JPG, ''Ficus elastica'' leaf on the left compared to '' Ficus lutea'' on the right File:Ficus elastica figs.jpg, The figs of ''F. elastica'' File:Ficus elastica.jpg, ''Ficus elastica'' near the roadside in Savusavu, Fiji, showing the effects of constant pruning on the growth form. File:Ficus elastica.Ghana.jpg, A huge ''Ficus elastica'' tree in Ghana showing the

aerial root Aerial roots are roots above the ground. They are almost always adventitious. They are found in diverse plant species, including epiphytes such as orchids (''Orchidaceae''), tropical coastal swamp trees such as mangroves, banyan figs (''Fic ...

s. File:Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica 'Robusta').jpg, Many cultivars, such as this ''Ficus elastica'' 'Robusta', are common in the houseplant trade File:Starr 080117-1722 Ficus elastica.jpg, A

cultivar File:Ficus elastica (rubber plant).jpg, ''Ficus elastica'', commonly called the rubber plant. File:Ficus10.jpg, Ficus black

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q160576

elastica Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by ex- Suede members Justine Frischmann and Justin Welch. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave music. The band's members changed several times ...

Epiphytes House plants Ornamental trees Flora of tropical Asia Plants described in 1819