Rubber plant (Ficus elastica) – care guide

Botanical fact sheet

Ficus elastica Roxb.

⚙ Automatic base data

Common name: Rubber plant, India Rubber Fig, India Rubber Tree, Indian Rubber Tree
Taxonomy: Family: Moraceae · Genus: Ficus1
Native distribution: Área urbana de Bogotá, D.C. Jardín Botánico José Celestino Mutis – Sede central, Departamento del Quindio, Municipio de Filandia, Buenavista, Circasia, Departamento de Quindío, municipio de Córdoba, Jardin Botánico de Bogotáuncertain3
Synonyms: 30 synonyms
Ficus clusiifolia Summerh.
Ficus cordata Hort.Berol.
Ficus cordata Hort.Berol. ex Kunth & C.D.Bouché
Ficus decora
Ficus elastica Roxb. ex Hornem.
Ficus elastica belgica L.H.Bailey & E.Z.Bailey
Ficus elastica benghalensis Blume
Ficus elastica decora Guillaumin
Ficus elastica karet (Miq.) Miq.
Ficus elastica minor Miq.
Ficus elastica odorata (Miq.) Miq.
Ficus elastica rubra L.H.Bailey & E.Z.Bailey
Ficus elastica rubrinervis Sata
Ficus elastica variegata Roxb.
Ficus elastica variegata Roxb. ex Hornem.
Ficus elastica variegata Sata, 1944
Ficus elastica variegata W.Bull
Ficus karet (Miq.) King
Ficus metallica
Ficus skytinoderma Summerh.
Ficus skytinodermis Summerh.
Ficus taeda Hort.Berol.
Ficus taeda Hort.Berol. ex Kunth & C.D.Bouché
Macrophthalma elastica (Roxb. ex Hornem.) Gasp.
Stilpnophyllum elasticum (Roxb. ex Hornem.) Drury
Urostigma circumscissum Miq.
Urostigma elasticum (Roxb. ex Hornem.) Miq.
Urostigma elasticum latifolium Miq.
Urostigma karet Miq.
Urostigma odoratum Miq.
2

Still missing: plant type, natural habitat, height / growth form, flowering period, growth & dormancy period.

Sources (3)

GBIF Backbone Taxonomy – Ficus elastica · Scientific name · CC BY 4.0
GBIF – synonyms · Synonyms · CC BY 4.0
GBIF – distributions (Captura y almacenamiento de carbono en el arbolado del Jardín Botánico de Bogotá José Celestino Mutis; Listado de Flora ) · Native distribution · CC BY 4.0

Automatic data comes from the open sources above, credited per their licences. Care experience is shown separately below.

Community knowledge

Tips & experience from members

What worked for you? Your plant’s growing conditions are attached automatically, so others can see who it works for.

No tips for this species yet – be the first to share what worked for you!

Real data

How members water it

Not enough logs yet: at least 3 plants with regular watering logs are needed (now: 0). Waterings logged in Care feed this – anonymised and aggregated.

Care guidelines

How it thrives

Partly general data for the genus Ficus

Watermedium

Lightbright indirect

Humiditymediumgeneral genus data

Min. temperature12 °C

No dormancy · general genus dataDifficulty: ●●○○○ · general genus data⚠ May be toxic to pets / people · general genus data

No monthly schedule is shown because cultivar-/species-level data is not yet sufficient. The general values above are guidance only.

Ficus tip: Hates being moved – it often drops leaves after a change of position.

⚠ Pets & children · genus Ficus

Cat mildDog mildHorse mildHuman (child) milddetails →

At a glance

Rubber plant – what to know

Rubber plant (Ficus elastica) – family: Moraceae, genus: Ficus. Native range: Área urbana de Bogotá, D.C. Jardín Botánico José Celestino Mutis – Sede central, Departamento del Quindio, Municipio de Filandia, Buenavista, Circasia, Departa…. Care guidelines: light: bright indirect; water: medium; min. 12 °C. One Perfect Plants Club member grows it (1 photos). For cats: mildly toxic; for dogs: mildly toxic. Keep it out of reach and call a vet straight away if you suspect poisoning.

All Ficus species in the catalog →Detailed toxicity data →