Eden

Penang Botanic Gardens Plant Collection

Ficus elastica Roxb. ex Hornem. (MORACEAE)

Posted at — Nov 13, 2019
Indian Rubber Fig, Pokok Getah Rambong.

Description

Stranggling fig, to 30 m tall. Trunk produces aerial roots. Leaves thick and glossy, oblong to elliptic, 10-30 cm long. Fruits borne in pairs, sometimes singly in leaf axils. ellipsoid, 1-2 cm diam., ripening yellow.

Ecology

Lowland rain forest, on cliffs and limestone hills.

Distribution

Eastern Himalayas, Assam, Burma, Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Java,

Uses

Often grown as ornamental house plant. The milky white latex was used to make rubber in the 1900s.