Ficus elastica is the classic Rubber Tree, Rubber Plant or India Rubber Plant.

Native to India
and Malaysia, elastica is among the oldest plants used as houseplants worldwide.

Elastica leaves and stems and even wood 'bleed' white sticky sap when broken or damaged from
which rubber can be made. Some people are allergic to this sap when applied to the skin.

Like most ficus, Ficus elastica is a large tree, growing to 40-50 feet tall and even wider on its
spreading branches held up by aerial roots which become multiple trunks. A very close relative
of Ficus benjamina, Ficus elastica tree is invasive and likely a poor choice for your South Florida
landscape. It has all of the same negatives as Ficus benjamina, as well as shedding large, coarse
leaves daily, choking any and all undergrowth. The sun is unable to penetrate the soil below
elastica. Still, elastica is an attractive large tree in wide open spaces.

The South Florida native Ficus aurea, commonly called 'Strangler Fig' is also a huge tree to 50
feet. Strangler Fig grows like a vine when young often germinating up in trees and up in palm
fibers or fronds. Birds distribute seeds which will sprout almost anywhere and without soil. It is
their aerial roots that surround its victims and over time kills its host with its size.

In most elastic materials,

such as metals used in
springs, the elastic
behavior is caused by
bond distortions. When
force is applied, bond
lengths deviate from the
(minimum energy)
equilibrium and strain
energy is stored
electrostatically. Rubber is
often assumed to behave
in the same way, but it
turns out this is a poor
description. Rubber is a
curious material because,
unlike metals, strain
energy is stored thermally.
Also, natural rubber is so
elastic that when force is
applied, on natural rubber
when it is on a surface
similar to carpet, it may
be difficult to 'pull' across

1
Today Asia is the main source of natural rubber, accounting for around 94% of output in 2005.
The three largest producing countries (Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand) together account for
around 72% of all natural rubber production. In places like Kerala, where coconuts are in
abundance, the half shell of coconut is used as the collection container for the latex but glazed
pottery or aluminium or plastic cups are more common elsewhere. The cups are supported by a
wire that encircles the tree. This wire incorporates a spring so it can stretch as the tree grows.
The latex is led into the cup by a galvanised "spout" knocked into the bark. Tapping normally
takes place early in the morning, when the internal pressure of the tree is highest. A good tapper
can tap a tree every 20 seconds on a standard half-spiral system, and a common daily "task" size
is between 450 and 650 trees. Trees are usually tapped alternate or third daily, although there are
many variations in timing, length and number of cuts. The latex, which contains 25–40% dry
rubber, is in the bark, so the tapper must avoid cutting right through to the wood or the growing
cambial layer will be damaged and the renewing bark will be badly deformed, making later
tapping difficult. It is usual to tap a pannel at least twice, sometimes three times, during the trees'
life. The economic life of the tree depends on how well the tapping is carried out, as the critical
factor is bark consumption. A standard in Malaysia for alternate daily tapping is 25 cm (vertical)
bark consumption per year. The latex tubes in the bark ascend in a spiral to the right. For this
reason, tapping cuts usually ascend to the left to cut more tubes.

The trees will drip latex for about four hours, stopping as latex coagulates naturally on the
tapping cut, thus blocking the latex tubes in the bark. Tappers usually rest and have a meal after
finishing their tapping work, then start collecting the latex at about midday. Some trees will
continue to drip after the collection and this leads to a small amount of cup lump which is
collected at the next tapping. The latex that coagulates on the cut is also collected as tree lace.
Tree lace and cup lump together account for 10–20% of the dry rubber produced.

The latex will coagulate in cup if kept for long. The latex has to be collected before coagulation.
The collected latex is transferred in to coagulation tanks for the preparation of dry rubber or
transferred into air-tight containers with sieving for ammoniation. Ammoniation is necessary to
preserve the latex in colloidal state for long.