The Botanical Description of Hevea brasiliensis Hevea brasiliensis is a quick-growing tree, rarely exceeding 25 m in height in plantations, but wild

trees of over 40 m have been recorded. Bole usually straight or tapered, branchless for 10 m or more, up to at least 50 cm in diameter, without buttresses; bark surface smooth, hoop marked, grey to pale brown, inner bark pale brown, with abundant white latex; crown conical, branches slender. Root system with a well-developed taproot and far-spreading laterals. Leaves alternate, palmate and each leaf with 3 leaflets. Leaflets elliptic petiolated, with a basal gland, pointed at the tip with lengths varying up to 45 cm; glabrous, with entire margin and pinnate venation. Inflorescence in the form of pyramidal-shaped axillary panicles produced simultaneously with new leaves and arranged in cymose form. Flowers small, greenish-white, dioecious, female flowers usually larger than the male ones. In the female flower, gynaecium composed of 3 united carpels forming a 3-lobed, 3-celled ovary with a single ovule in each cell. Seeds large, ovoid, slightly compressed, shiny, 2-3.5 x 1.5-3 cm, testa grey or pale brown with irregular dark brown dots, lines and blotches. The testa being derived from the female parent and the seed shape being determined by the pressures of the capsule, it is possible to identify the female parent of any seed by its markings and shape; this is the most reliable method of identifying clonal seed. Endosperm white in viable seeds, turning yellow in older seeds. Seeds weigh 2-4 g. The generic name is derived from a local word in the Amazon, heve meaning rubber.

How to Harvest Latex from Rubber Tree?

Tapping begins when trees are 58 years old, depending on the area, and increases every year until a maximum at about 20 years, then yield sustained for 4050 years or more. Tapping consists of removal by excision of a thin cut of bark about 1 mm deep at regular intervals, thus opening the latex vessels in the bark, which are arranged in concentric cylinders and run in counter-clockwise spirals up the trunk. Usually the cuts run half-way around the trunk, but may encircle the tree. Several types of cuts are used. Only the basal part (1.3 m) of the trunk is tapped (most latex vessels develop here). Special knives are used to cut the proper depth and angle. Latex is collected through a small spout fixed in the bark in cups placed at end of cut, large enough to collect one-day's flow. Trees are tapped early in morning when flow of latex is highest; flow decreases with temperature

and usually ceases in about 3 hours. An average tapper can tap 200300 trees in 3 hours. Then the tapper starts back through the grove and empties the cups into large pails or buckets, sometimes adding a few drops of dilute ammonium solution to prevent coagulation. Rubber yield can be increased treating the bark below the tap with yield-stimulating mixtures containing plant hormones and selective weed-killers with hormone properties, as Stimalax, Eureka, 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T in palm oil. Copper sulfate also enhances latex flow.