India rubber plant

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Read Next

Plant seedlings emerging from rich fertile soil

Do Plants Feel Pain?

Britannica’s Flower Bingo

Macro image of pollen-covered bee on purple crocus. (flowers, stamen, pollination, insects, nature)

5 Fast Facts About Flower Anatomy

Anemone coronaria, the poppy anemone, Spanish marigold, or windflower, is a species of flowering plant.

What’s the Difference Between Angiosperms and Gymnosperms?

Sunlight shining on leaves. Photosynthesis

What Does Photosynthesis Produce?

Discover

Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army

8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Engraving by Cosomo Colombini (d. 1812) after a Leonardo self portrait. Ca. 1500.

10 Famous Artworks by Leonardo da Vinci

Diverse elementary school children wearing school uniforms running outside of school. Boys girls

Pro and Con: School Uniforms

Los Angeles Police Department wanted flyer on Elizabeth Short, aka the "Black Dahlia," who was brutally murdered in January 1947. The FBI supported the Los Angeles Police Department in the case, including by identifying Short through her fingerprints that

America’s 5 Most Notorious Cold Cases (Including One You May Have Thought Was Already Solved)

A human Inuit skull in a stone chambered cairn in Ilulissat in Greenland. These ancient graves are pre christian and are at least 2000

14 Tough Questions Answered

New York NY/ USA- November 23, 2018 Hordes of shoppers throng the Macy's Herald Square flagship store in New York looking for bargains on the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday.

Why Is It Called Black Friday?

Super Typhoon Noru over the western tropical Pacific Ocean as observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA Aqua satellite July 31 2017

What Is the Difference Between a Typhoon and a Super Typhoon?

India rubber plant

tree

Also known as: Ficus elastica, India rubber tree

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Also called:: India rubber tree

Related Topics:: Ficus

See all related content

India rubber plant, (Ficus elastica), large tree of the family Moraceae, once an important source of an inferior natural rubber. It was largely replaced as a source of rubber by the unrelated rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) in the early 20th century. The India rubber plant is native to Southeast Asia and is commonly grown as an indoor pot plant elsewhere. The young plants are durable and grow well under less-than-ideal indoor conditions.

The India rubber plant has large, thick, oblong leaves up to 30 cm (12 inches) long and figlike fruits in pairs along the branches. The trunk and stems exude a milky sap, or latex. Among the cultivated varieties offered are ‘Decora,’ with broader and darker green leaves, and a few variegated strains, with marbled gray, cream, and white leaves or with green leaves having white or yellow margins.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello.