Skip to content

Castilla elastica

Plants

Family: Moraceae · Genus: Castilla

Castilla elastica

Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen · public_domain

About

Castilla elastica, the Panama rubber tree, is a tree native to the tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. It was the principal source of latex among the Mesoamerican peoples in pre-Columbian times. The latex gathered from Castilla elastica was converted into usable rubber by mixing the latex with the juice of the morning glory species Ipomoea alba which, conveniently, is typically found in the wild as a vine climbing Castilla elastica. The rubber produced by this method found several uses, including most notably, the manufacture of balls for the Mesoamerican ballgame ōllamaliztli.

Summary from Wikipedia

View full profile

Growing details and traits for Castilla elastica in the Library.

No cultivars in the Library yet — the full profile above covers the species itself.