Natural rubber at least showed promise as rubber sources, include the rubber fig ("Ficus elastica"), Panama rubber tree ("Castilla elastica"), various spurges ("Euphorbia" spp.), lettuce ("Lactuca" species), the related "Scorzonera tau-saghyz", various "Taraxacum" species, including common dandelion ("Taraxacum officinale") and Russian dandelion ("Taraxacum kok-saghyz"), and perhaps most importantly for its hypoallergenic properties, guayule ("Parthenium argentatum"). The term gum rubber is sometimes applied to the tree-obtained version of natural rubber in order to distinguish it from the synthetic version. The first use of rubber was by the indigenous cultures of Mesoamerica. The earliest archeological evidence of the use of natural latex from the
Balete tree The India rubber plant, "F. elastica" were earlier cultivated to some extent for rubber. Some of the species like "tangisang-bayawak" or "Ficus variegata" are large and could probably be utilized for match woods. The woods of species of Ficus are soft, light, and of inferior quality, and the trees usually have ill-formed, short boles. Baletes are planted as graceful trees along avenues in Manila and other large cities in the Philippines, and they are also excellent as shade trees. Several species of the tree are also use for bonsai making in the country. Baletes are used as houseplants; however, it