Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Large
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Tropical rainforest
Range: Southeast Asia
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Uncommon

About

The rubber plant is a tropical fig tree native to South and Southeast Asia, prized as a houseplant for its large, glossy, deep-green leaves. When cut, its stems exude a milky latex that was once commercially harvested as a rubber source before Hevea brasiliensis became dominant.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Genus: Ficus
Species: Ficus elastica