Category: Team 1

One of the earliest and most important successes was the introduction, experimentation and promotion of Para Rubber, Hevea brasiliensis. This became a major crop that brought great prosperity to the South East Asian region in the early 20th century.

Name: Hevea brasiliensis

Common Name: Para Rubber Tree, Sharinga Tree, Rubber Tree

Height: 30-40 m

Hevea brasiliensis is a deciduous tree, typically grows up to 30-40 m tall. The trunk is cylindrical in shape, but is swollen towards the base, and the color of the bark is pale to dark brown with a smooth surface. The inner bark is pale brown with an abundant of white or cream colored latex. The leaves are in spirals form and have three leaflets. The flowers are small with no petals, it is bright or creamy yellow in color and extremely pungent.They are either male or female but both are found in the same inflorescence. The fruit is an exploding 3-lobed capsule.

In the wild, this trees may grow up to over 40 m and live for 100 years, but in plantations they rarely exceed 25 m because growth is reduced by tapping for rubber. Plantation trees are usually replanted after 25-35 years when yields fall to an uneconomic level.

 

 

Scientific Name: Ficus Elastica

Common Name: Indian Rubber Tree

Height: 30 to 45 feet

Crown Shape: Oval

An evergreen, medium or large tree of the moist tropical forests, it is hardy and fast growing, up to 30 m in height. It develops numerous descending aerial roots to form a banyan. The Indian Rubber is a type of fig tree. It can be distinguished from other fig trees by its young leaves which are enclosed in a red sheath.

The Indian Rubber was once an economic plant in the region. Its latex was tapped and processed into Gutta Rambong, a type of rubber of inferior quality. After the introduction of the Para Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), the planting of Indian Rubber and tapping of its latex was slowly phased out. This was because the Para Rubber produced rubber of better quality and could be tapped about six years after being planted, while the Indian Rubber could only be tapped about 15 years after it was planted. Ficus elastica yields a milky white latex , a chemical compound separate from its sap and carried and stored in different cells . This latex was formerly used to make rubber but it should not be confused with the Para rubber tree, the main commercial source of latex for rubber making. Just as with Hevea brasiliensis, the latex of Ficus elastica is an irritant to the eyes and skin and is toxic if taken internally.

 

A coastal evergreen that is slow-growing, the Penaga Laut has a large, spreading dense crown. Calophyllum means “beautiful leaf” in Greek – the tree’s beautiful leathery leaves, with numerous slender veins, are its most recognisable feature. Its rugged, greyish brown bark is fissured and cracked. The Penaga Laut is a tree of many uses. The oil from the seeds is used to heal a multitude of skin ailments. Its leaves and roots can also be used for a variety of medicinal purposes. This tree is not just a tree. It plays host to several ferns, climbers, and wildlife.

This Penaga Laut is more than 100 years old. The Botany Center was designed and built around it, with the walkway next to the tree made narrower to accommodate the tree (an excellent example of efforts made to conserve mature trees in Singapore).