Hevea benthamiana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hevea benthamiana | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Seeds | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Euphorbiaceae |
| Genus: | Hevea |
| Species: | H. benthamiana |
| Binomial name | |
| Hevea benthamiana Müll.Arg. | |
Hevea benthamiana is a species of rubber tree in the genus Hevea, belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. A medium-sized deciduous tree growing to a height of about 27 m (90 ft), it is native to the rainforests of northern Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.
H. benthamiana is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to around 27 m (90 ft), often with a narrow crown and a swollen, bottle-like trunk; these features seem to be a response to periodic flooding because they do not occur in cultivated trees. This tree is deciduous, shedding its old foliage before stubby "winter shoots" develop.[1] This may be a response to the fungal leaf diseases that readily occur in the constantly humid environment. The leaves have three elliptical leaflets which have a golden-brown pubescence on the underside. The inflorescences have separate male and female flowers, the male flowers having seven to nine stamens in two irregular whorls. The seeds are rounded.[1]