Botany
Indian rubber tree is a glabrous spreading tree, up to 10 meters high, normally starting as an epiphyte, sending down numerous adventitious roots from the trunk and branches. Leaves are very leathery, smooth and shining, elliptic-oblong, 15 to 25 cm long, the tip with a tapering point and the margins entire. Stipules are deciduous, membranaceous, and usually red, often as long as the leaves. Receptacles are axillary, usually in pairs, stalkless, smooth, greenish-yellow, oblong-ovoid, about 1 cm long.

Distribution
- Introduced, but now pantropic in cultivation.
- Popularly planted as a roadside tree.
- Cultivated as a potted plant by florists.

Constituents and characteristics
The latex contains caoutchouc, 10-30 per cent; a bitter substance; albuminoid.
The wax contains cerotic acid.

Properties
Astringent, vulnerary, styptic.

Parts utilized
Rootlets and bark.

Uses
Edibility
- In Java, the very young leaf-tips, before the leaves expand, are eaten as salad.
Folkloric
- Skin eruptions and dermatitis: Boil one cup of chopped bark in 1/2 gallon of water for 10 mins; use decoction to wash involved areas, twice daily.
- Decoction of aerial rootlets used for wounds, cuts and sores.
- Bark is astringent and used as styptics for wounds.
- In Panama, latex used for parasitic worms (trichuris trichura).
• In northern Cameroon, used as fertility enhancement.
Plant that Detoxify the Air
- Of the ficus plants tested, the rubber plant is the best for removing chemical toxins from the indoor environment, especially formaldehyde.

Studies
• Antiinflammatory: Study showed marked inhibition of experimentally induced inflammation, similar to those achieved with indomethacin, an effect attributed to the presence of flavonoids.
• Hypoallergenicity: (1) Ficus elastica has been suggested as a possible source of natural rubber latex without the allergenicity of latex protein from Hevea basiliensis. (2) Prelim studies showed that natural rubber from Ficus elastica do not cause allergic reactions in hypersenstivie humans
• Antimicrobial / Constituents: Study isolated four known compounds from the leaves of F elastica – emodin, sucrose, morin and rutrin. Results showed antimicrobial activity against B cereus and Pseudomoas aeruginosa. No Antifungal activity was observed.
• Anthelmintic / Latex: Study of F. religinosia, F. elastica and F. bengalensis showed the three plants possess anthelmintic activity against Indian earthworm Pheritima posthuma. Results showed F. religinosa showed more activity than the other two.

Superstition
An occasional folkloric advice against having it as a decorative bonzai inside the house as it is believed to invite ghosts.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Rubber Plants (Ficus elastica) / Plants that Detoxify the Air
(2)
The anti-inflammatory effect of a crude aqueous extract of the root bark of Ficus elastica in the rat / Sackeyfio AC Lugeleka OM: / ARCH INT PHARMACODYN THER 1986 May; 281(1):169-76
(3)
The anti-inflammatory effect of a crude aqueous extract of the root bark of "Ficus elastica" in the rat / Arch Int Pharmacodyn Ther. 1986 May;281(1):169-76
(4)
Occupational Latex Allergy: The End of the Innocence / Holzman, Robert S. MD; Katz, Jonathan D. MD
(5)
Hypoallergenic natural rubber products from parthenum argentatum (gray) and other non-hevea brasiliensis species / FreePatentOnLine
(6)
Investigation on the Chemical Constituents of the Leaves of Ficus elastica Roxb. and Their Antimicrobial Activity / Hassan Abdalla Almahy et al / Pertanika J. Sci. & Technol. 11(1): 57 - 63 (2003)
(7)
COMPARATIVE IN-VITRO ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY OF THE LATEX OF FICUS RELIGINOSA, FICUS ELASTICA AND FICUS BENGALENSIS / B N Vedha Hari, P Saravana Kumar and D Ramya Devi / Journal of Phytology 2011, 3(3): 26-30