Ficus elastica - Rubber Tree

Rubber Tree is a beautiful tree native to NE India, the eastern Himalayas, and SE Asia. Rubber Tree is popular because it is very easy to grow and care for. They can get big pretty quickly, as they are vigorous growers and don’t ask for much attention. It grows up to 30-40 m tall, but is usually seen as a smaller garden tree. It has broad shiny oval leaves 10-35 cm long and 5-15 cm broad. Leaf size is largest on young plants (occasionally to 45 cm long), much smaller on old trees (typically 10 cm long). The leaves develop inside a reddish sheath at the tip of branches, which looks very attractive. 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, 1 cm long, grow in pairs. This is a popular house-plant, and grows in all Indian conditions. The tree can yield a milky white latex, which has been used to make rubber.