Ficus elastica leaves the latex of the plant oozing, is coated with cuttings hormones and tightly wrapped with moist foam. The whole is covered with a plastic film and left a few months at the end of which new roots have developed from the axillary buds. The stem is then weaned and the new plant can be repotted. All parts of the plant contain an abundant milky white latex, which has been tested for use in the manufacture of rubber, but without economic and technical results; the rubber is actually produced from the sap of the rubber tree . In cultivation, it
Ficus superba var. henneana In 1868 it was named "Ficus henneana". Joseph Banks also collected this plant from the Booby Island on August 23, 1770. That specimen may have been from the same tree as Henne's specimen, (as the island is so small). Banks' plant was named in 1901 after the Endeavor's artist Sydney Parkinson, (Ficus parkinsonii). However, this name fell out of favour as "Ficus henneana" was already named in 1868. The specific epithet "superba" is from Latin referring to "outstanding" or "superb". The plant has had other scientific names, such as "Ficus gracilipes", "Ficus pritzelii" and "Urostigma superbum". The tree is semi