Hevea brasiliensis

Hevea brasiliensis is a South American tree whose latex is the principal commercial source of natural rubber. It is cultivated extensively in tropical regions.

Natural rubber: An elastic polymer obtained mainly from the latex of Hevea brasiliensis. The tree’s latex is the dominant commercial source of this material.
Amazon rainforest: A vast tropical forest ecosystem spanning much of the Amazon Basin in South America. The tree is native to the Amazon Basin’s rainforest region.
Tire: A resilient covering fitted around a wheel to provide traction and absorb shocks. Tires are a major use of natural rubber from this tree.
South American leaf blight: A fungal disease of rubber trees caused by Pseudocercospora ulei. The disease limits large-scale cultivation of this species in its native range.
Latex: A fluid containing dispersed particles that many plants release from specialized tissues. Rubber-bearing latex is harvested from the tree’s bark.
Henry Wickham: A British explorer who transported Hevea seeds from Brazil to Kew in 1876. His seed shipment enabled the establishment of Asian rubber plantations.
Rubber tapping system: A set of practices for cutting bark and collecting latex from rubber trees. Plantation yields depend on the tapping pattern and collection schedule.
Rubber monoculture: The large-scale cultivation of rubber trees as a single dominant crop. Plantation production concentrates Hevea across extensive tropical landscapes.
Laticifer: A specialized plant cell or tube that produces or stores latex. Laticifers in the bark contain the latex tapped from this species.
Kew Gardens: A botanical garden and research institution in southwest London. Seeds collected by Wickham were germinated and cultivated at Kew.

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