rubber plant (redirected from India Rubber Plant)

rubber plant, name for any plant that yields rubber, specifically the India-rubber tree (Ficus elastica), an Asian fig.

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rubber plant

 or India rubber plant

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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rubber plant

1. a moraceous plant, Ficus elastica, with glossy leathery leaves: a tall tree in India and Malaya, it is cultivated as a house plant in Europe and America

2. any of several tropical trees, the sap of which yields rubber