Rubber Tree Adaptations

They can grow to be 14 inches 35 cm long and up to 6 inches 15 24 cm wide.

Rubber tree adaptations.

Its most famous feature is the milky white sap known as latex which flows freely from the tree when a sliver of bark is removed. Rubber tree hevea brasiliensis south american tropical tree of the spurge family euphorbiaceae. Most of the world s natural rubber however comes from the rubber tree with the scientific name hevea brasiliensis. The leaves of the rubber tree have drip tips photo.

It is a rapidly growing tree as are most trees in the tropical rainforest it can sprout 24 inches 60 cm or more each season if it is in the proper environment. These trees love to be in full bright lights but will adapt if necessary to duller lighting. A rubber tree also referred to as rubberwood can be tapped for latex once it reaches approximately six years of age. The leaves of the rubber tree are glossy oval shaped and dark green.

An adaptation of a rubber tree is that it sheds its bark so as to absorb its nutrients when the bark decomposes in the soil around it. It can reach its full size in. Cultivated on plantations in the tropics and subtropics especially in southeast asia and western africa it replaced the rubber plant in the early 20th century as the chief source of natural rubber it has soft wood. With a small amount of latex it means that the people can.

Therefore the people have to cut it down. War against the rubber tree. There are several kinds of plants that can produce rubber. One kind the india rubber plant is a common houseplant.

During the day rubber trees prefer temperatures from 21 29 degrees celsius 70 85 degrees fahrenheit and at night they like temperatures from 18 23 degrees celsius 65. The rubber tree has beautiful smooth dark shiny leaves and a light shaded bark. Found in many products from tires to toys natural rubber is made from the milky sap of the rubber tree. The rubber tree in the plantation has slower growth level if they are tapped for latex.

When the rubber tree grows older it will generate less amount of latex. Another predator of the rubber tree is the tambaqui. Tambaqui destroys the rubber tree s seedlings and eats the nut that are left. There are not too many predators something that hurts it but there are some in south america leaf blight is a fungus that stops the tree from growing.

These are all adaptations that plants have made in order to thrive in the tropical rainforest environment. In the wild the rubber tree will grow to heights of 100 to 130 feet and can live up to 100 years.