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 macrophylla botanist Charles Moore described "Ficus columnaris" in 1870 from material collected from Lord Howe Island, choosing the species name from the Latin "columnaris" for the column-like roots. English botanist E. J. H. Corner reduced this to synonymy with "F. macrophylla" in 1965, before P. S. Green noted it was distinct enough for subspecies status in 1986. Australian botanist Dale J. Dixon reviewed material and felt the differences too minor to warrant subspecific status, and recognised two forms: "Ficus macrophylla" f. "macrophylla", a free-standing tree endemic to mainland Australia; and "Ficus macrophylla" f. "columnaris", a hemiepiphyte lacking a distinct main trunk