Ficus elastica Roxb. ex Hornem.Family: Moraceae
Synonyms: Ficus clusiifolia Summerh., Ficus cordata Kunth & C.D.Bouché, Ficus elastica var. belgica L.H.Bailey & E.Z.Bailey, Ficus elastica var. benghalensis Blume, Ficus elastica var. decora Guillaumin, Ficus elastica var. karet (Miq.) Miq., Ficus elastica var. minor Miq., Ficus elastica var. odorata (Miq.) Miq., Ficus elastica var. rubra L.H.Bailey & E.Z.Bailey, Ficus karet (Miq.) King, Ficus skytinodermis Summerh., Ficus taeda Kunth & C.D.Bouché, Macrophthalma elastica (Roxb. ex Hornem.) Gasp., Urostigma circumscissum Miq., Urostigma elasticum (Roxb. ex Hornem.) Miq., Urostigma karet Miq., Urostigma odoratum Miq., Visiania elastica (Roxb. ex Hornem.) Gasp.
- Common name: Rubber Tree, Rubber Plant, India Rubber Tree, Indian Rubber Bush
- Assamese: অথা বৰ Atha bor
- Catalan: Ficus del cautxú
- Chinese: 印度橡皮树, 印度榕
- Danish: Gummi-Figen
- Finnish: Kumiviikuna
- French: Figuier caoutchouc
- German: Gummibaum, Indischer Gummibaum
- Hindi: अटाबोर, atabor
- Japanese: インドゴムノキ
- Kannada: Goli, Goni, Shimeala, India rubber mara
- Khasi: Diengjri
- Malayalam: Shimayal, Simayal
- Marathi: रबराचो वड Rabracho-vad
- Persian: فیکوس
- Polish: Figowiec sprężysty
- Portuguese: Árvore-da-borracha
- Russian: Фикус каучуконосный
- Spanish: higuiera cauchera, cauchú comun
- Swedish: Fönsterfikus
- Tamil: சீமை ஆல் Seemai aal
- Telugu: Rabbaru, Sagubanka, Simamarri
- Turkish: Kauçuk ağacı
- Vietnamese: Đa búp đỏ
Description: Trees, 20-30 m tall, d.b.h. 25-40 cm, epiphytic when young. Bark pale gray, smooth. Branchlets strong. Stipules dark red, ca. 10 cm, membranous; scar conspicuous. Petiole robust, 2-5 cm; leaf blade oblong to elliptic, 8-30 × 7-10 cm, thickly leathery, abaxially pale green, adaxially dark green and shiny, base broadly cuneate, margin entire, apex acute; secondary veins many, closely parallel, inconspicuous. Figs axillary on leafless branchlets, paired, yellowish green, ovoid-ellipsoid, ca. 10 × 5-8 mm, subsessile; involucral bracts hoodlike, caducous, scar conspicuous. Male, gall, and female flowers within same fig. Male flowers: scattered among other flowers, pedicellate; calyx lobes 4, ovate; stamen 1; filament absent; anther ovoid-ellipsoid. Gall flowers: sepals 4; ovary ovoid, smooth; style subapical, curved. Female flowers: sessile; style persistent, long; stigma enlarged, ± capitate. Achenes ovoid, tuberculate. Fl. winter.
Uses: Leaves and stem bark antibacterial, antiinflammatory, poultice applied on new and old wounds; Ficus elastica stipules poultice with leaves of Moringa oleifera applied on eruptive skin diseases. Veterinary medicine, promoting the reproduction. Fruits as fish poison. Latex used for catching birds. Ceremonial, worship tree, rain making through sacrifices in the sacred forest. [CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants]
154 Published articles of Ficus elastica
