Scientific Name:
Ficus elastica
Pronunciation:
FYE-kus ee-LASS-tih-kuh
Common Name:
rubber plant, India rubber plant, rubber tree
Family Name:
Moraceae
Plant Type:
Indoor foliage plant
Key ID Features:
Indoor plants grown 1-3m tall: leaves alternate, elliptic; most 10-30cm long x 5-12cm wide, leathery, 2-5mm thick, new leaf growth green, darkens to purple-green as it matures, glabrous, margin entire, base rounded, most petioles 3-5cm long; inflorescence is a spadix is mostly enclosed by a single large reddish bract.
Habit:
Upright
Form:
Oval - vertical
Texture:
Coarse
Mature Height:
1.3 - 2.0m
Mature Spread:
0.3 - 0.6m
Growth Rate:
Moderate
Origin:
S.E. Asia / Japan / China, South Asia / India
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 10: (-1 to 4 °C)
Exposure:
Part sun/part shade
Soil/Growing Medium:
Humus rich, Well-drained
Water Use:
Moderate
Landscape Uses:
Indoor plant
Additional Info:
Google. Grows over 10m tall in nature. Cultivars shown may include F. 'Tineke' (variegated).
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Simple
Arrangement:
Alternate
Texture/Venation:
Leathery
Surfaces:
Glabrous, Lustrous
Shapes:
Elliptic, Ovate
Apices:
Cuspidate
Bases:
Obtuse, Rounded
Margins:
Entire
Inflorescence Type:
Flowers clustered
Flower Morphology:
Colour (petals):
No flowers, Green, Red
Flower Time at Peak:
Additional Info:
Florets in a syconium (rarely formed locally)
Fruit Type:
Multiple fruit
Fruit Colour:
Purple, Black
Fruiting Time:
Additional Info:
Showy, Accessory tissue, Fruit rarely forms on potted plants. Called a syconium, a fruit type only found in figs - formed by an enlarged, fleshy, hollow receptacle with multiple ovaries on the inside surface.
Bark Morphology:
Prominent lenticels, Lightly fissured
Bark or Stem Colour:
Brown
Propagation:
Layering, Stem tip cuttings
Optimal Temp.:
Medium
Light Level:
High
Maintenance:
Low
Pest Susceptibility:
Fungal leaf spot, Scale insects
Course(s):
- HORT 1155
- HORT 1193/1293
- Level 4 Apprenticeship
Location(s):
- (GNH) GreeNHouse