Castilla elastica (Nahuatl) word for rubber was "ulli / olli", from which their word for the ballgame derived), and also their name for the ancient people they associated with the origin of the ballgame, the Olmecs ("olmeca": "rubber people"). The Nahuatl word for the tree of "Castilla elastica" is olicuáhuitl; in Spanish it is known as palo de hule. Caucho, castilloa rubber. Castilla elastica Castilla elastica, the Panama rubber tree, is a tree native to the tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. It was the principal source of latex among the Mesoamerican peoples in pre-Columbian times. The latex
Ficus elastica 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, 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. As with other members of the genus "Ficus", the flowers require a particular species of fig wasp to pollinate it in a co-evolved relationship. Because of this relationship, the rubber plant does not