Rubber Tree Adaptations For Survival

In the wild the rubber tree will grow to heights of 100 to 130 feet and can live up to 100 years.

Rubber tree adaptations for survival. Also some leaves have flexible stems so they can turn toward the sun another adaptation is the leaves of the rubber plant that have a drip tip so that heavy rainfall can drip off the leaf quickly so that the leaves don t become moldy. Drip tips plants have leaves with pointy tips. And a large area of bark. Its most famous feature is the milky white sap known as latex which flows freely from the tree when a sliver of bark is removed.

The rubber tree has beautiful smooth dark shiny leaves and a light shaded bark. Cultivated on plantations in the tropics and subtropics especially in southeast asia and western africa it replaced the rubber plant in the early 20th century as the chief source of natural rubber it has soft wood. For example some trees such as the kapok grow very tall because of the competition for sunlight. In a rainforest it rains all year round but the heaviest rain falls between november and april.

Rubber trees find gaps in the canopy top layer of the rainforest to get closer to the sun. If a rubber tree could talk it would say don t try to take me away. These trees love to be in full bright lights but will adapt if necessary to duller lighting. Rubber trees ficus elastica are easy to grow and thrive in a variety of conditions in u s.

Rubber tree hevea brasiliensis south american tropical tree of the spurge family euphorbiaceae. An adaptation of a rubber tree is that it sheds its bark so as to absorb its nutrients when the bark decomposes in the soil around it. Rubber tree high throughput snp discovery for the improvement of marker assisted selection efficiency. The bark on these trees is smooth to allow water to flow down to the roots easily.

Rubber tree growing conditions. The ability of lianas to use other trees as support allows these plants to reach the forest canopy where they can obtain the necessary sunlight needed for their survival. This allows water to run off the leaves quickly without damaging. A rubber tree also referred to as rubberwood can be tapped for latex once it reaches approximately six years of age.

During the day rubber trees prefer temperatures from 21 29 degrees celsius 70 85 degrees fahrenheit and at night they like temperatures from 18 23 degrees celsius 65 75 degrees fahrenheit.