Para Rubber Tree (Hevea brasiliensis)

Hevea brasiliensis, commonly called the Para rubber tree, is a flowering tree of the spurge family Euphorbiaceae and the primary source of the world natural rubber, its milky latex the tree most economically significant feature. It is native to the Amazon basin of South America, taking its common name from the Brazilian province of Para where it naturally grew, before human introduction spread it across the tropics. In the wild it is deciduous and can reach forty three meters, with a cylindrical trunk that may develop a bottle shaped base, brown bark that exudes latex when cut, leaves arranged in groups of three leaflets, and fragrant, petal-less cream colored flowers that give way to an explosive seed capsule holding three large seeds. As the most economically important species in its genus, it fundamentally shaped modern commerce, with tapping of its latex typically beginning seven to ten years after a tree is planted.