Eden

Penang Botanic Gardens Plant Collection

Hevea brasiliensis (Willd. ex A.Juss.) M�ll.Arg. (EUPHORBIACEAE)

Posted at — Nov 13, 2019
Rubber Tree

Description

Deciduous tree to 25 m tall. Leaves trifoliate, leaflets 5-21 cm long. Flowers yellow, fragrant, unisexual together in branched clusters to 30 cm long. Fruits c. 5 cm across, strongly 3-lobed, leathery, bony when ripe splitting into 3 parts with 1 large seed in each segment.


Ecology

Lowland forest.

Distribution

Tropical S. America.

Uses

One of the most important industrial crop tree for Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. It produces natural rubber. Timber is widely used in furniture.