rubber plant

rubber plant
1. a plant, Ficus elastica, of the mulberry family, having oblong, shining, leathery leaves, growing native as a tall tree in India, the Malay Archipelago, etc., used as a source of rubber and cultivated in Europe and America as an ornamental house plant.
2. any plant yielding caoutchouc or India rubber.
[1885-90]

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Tropical tree (Ficus elastica) of the mulberry family.

The rubber plant is large in its native Southeast Asia and other warm areas; elsewhere it is commonly grown indoors as a potted plant. The plant has large, thick, oblong leaves and pairs of figlike fruits along its branches. The milky sap, or latex, was once an important source of an inferior natural rubber. Young plants available in the florist's trade are durable and grow well under less-than-ideal indoor conditions. Some cultivated varieties have broader, darker green leaves; others are variegated. See also rubber tree.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Rubber plant — may mean:* Para rubber tree a major commercial source of natural rubber * Castilla elastica a source of rubber for the ancient Maya people * Ficus elastica common ornamental plant …   Wikipedia

  • rubber plant — rubber plants N COUNT A rubber plant is a type of plant with shiny leaves. It grows naturally in Asia but is also grown as a house plant in other parts of the world …   English dictionary

  • rubber plant — n. 1. any plant yielding a milky sap (latex) from which crude rubber is formed 2. an Asian tree (Ficus elastica) of the mulberry family, with large, glossy, leathery leaves: often used as an ornamental house plant …   English World dictionary

  • rubber plant — ► NOUN ▪ an evergreen tree with large dark green shiny leaves, native to SE Asia and formerly grown as a source of rubber …   English terms dictionary

  • rubber plant — n a plant with large shiny dark green leaves that is often grown indoors …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • rubber plant — rubber ,plant noun count a plant with large shiny green leaves that comes from Southeast Asia …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • rubber plant — noun large tropical Asian tree frequently dwarfed as a houseplant; source of Assam rubber • Syn: ↑India rubber tree, ↑India rubber plant, ↑India rubber fig, ↑Assam rubber, ↑Ficus elastica • Hypernyms: ↑fig tree * * * noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • rubber plant — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms rubber plant : singular rubber plant plural rubber plants a plant with large shiny green leaves that comes from Southeast Asia …   English dictionary

  • rubber plant — stambialapis fikusas statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Šilkmedinių šeimos dekoratyvinis augalas (Ficus elastica), paplitęs atogrąžų Azijoje. atitikmenys: lot. Ficus elastica angl. Assam rubber; India rubber; India rubber fig; Indian… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • rubber plant — kaučiukojas statusas T sritis chemija apibrėžtis Natūraliojo kaučiuko lateksą išskiriantis augalas. atitikmenys: angl. rubber plant; rubber bearing plant rus. каучуконос; каучуконосное растение …   Chemijos terminų aiškinamasis žodynas

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