Ficus elastica prefers bright sunlight but not hot temperatures. It has a high tolerance for drought, but prefers humidity and thrives in wet, tropical conditions. Ornamental hybrids (such as Robusta) have been derived from "Ficus elastica" with broader, stiffer and more upright leaves than the wild form. Many such hybrids exist, often with variegated leaves. "Ficus elastica" yields a milky white latex, a chemical compound separate from its sap and carried and stored in different cells. This latex was formerly used to make rubber, but it should not be confused with the Pará rubber tree, the main commercial source of latex for
Stranger, Bear Word to the Spartans We... indeed in his old school: his own handwriting in chalk on the blackboard: "Stranger, bear word to the Spartans we..." The story was first published by Verlag Friedrich Middelhauve in 1950 as the title story in a short story collection. Today, "Stranger, Bear Word to the Spartans We..." is one of Böll's most famous stories and is one of the best known of examples of Trümmerliteratur ("Rubble literature"). The unnamed first-person narrator begins the story in a truck and is transported through a partially burning city that he cannot identify, and is also unable to accurately gauge the amount of