Ficus elastica, also called the rubber fig, rubber bush, rubber plant, or Indian rubber bush is a species of plant in the fig genus, native to northeast India, southern Indonesia.
This is an extraordinary plant, with its characteristics, we can immediately recognize this is a rubber fig. This plant can grow to average height of 60 meters, with a stout trunk up to 2 metres diameter. The trunk develops aerial and buttressing roots to anchor it in the soil and help support heavy branches, the leaves wide too.
Rubber fig is usually used as an ornamental plant. Cultivation is also very easy way, why I say that? because I have a rubber fig as an ornamental plant, simply by cutting the stalks are already quite old and can grow well planted. That must be considered is when watering not too much. This is a real experience I have.
Rubber fig can yield a milky white latex also known as sap, which has been used in some cases to make rubber, but it should not be confused with the
Pará rubber tree, the main commercial source of latex for rubber making. This sap is also an irritant to the eyes and skin and can be fatal if taken.
