Ficus elastica rubber making. Just as with "Hevea brasiliensis", the latex of "Ficus elastica" is an irritant to the eyes and skin and is toxic if taken internally. Ficus elastica Ficus elastica, the rubber fig, rubber bush, rubber tree, rubber plant, or Indian rubber bush, Indian rubber tree, is a species of plant in the fig genus, native to eastern parts of South Asia and southeast Asia. It has become naturalized in Sri Lanka, the West Indies, and the US State of Florida. It is a large tree in the banyan group of figs, growing to (rarely up to ) tall, with
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