What is Para rubber tree?
{{speciesbox |image =Hevea_brasiliensis_-_Köhler–s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-071.jpg |genus = Hevea |species = brasiliensis |authority = [[Johannes Müller Argoviensis|Müll.Arg.]] }} [[image:Latex_dripping.JPG|thumb|150px|left|Latex being collected from a wounded rubber tree]] A '''Para rubber tree''' (or simply, '''rubber tree''') is the tree which naturally produces [[rubber]]. It is native to [[tropics|tropical]] areas from [[South America]], in the [[Amazon Rainforest|Amazon]] ([[Brazil]]), but was spread by European farmers to the [[Far East]]. Para Rubber trees belong to the Euphorbiaceae family. In the wild they may reach heights of 100 to 125 [[Foot (unit of length)|ft]] (30-38 m) with large cylindrical trunks with or without [[buttress]]es. [[Crop]] trees reach a width of about 20 in. (50 cm), usually with a short [[bole]], and with a sloped [[taper]]. Most rubber [[plantation]]<nowiki/>s are in [[South Asia]] and [[Southeast Asia]]. When trees reach 5-6 [[year]]s old, they are [[harvest]]ed. Their trunks are cut just deep enough to tap the vessels without harming the tree's growth, and the [[sap]] is collected in small [[bucket]]s. This process is known as rubber tapping. Older trees produce more latex, but they stop producing it after 30-40 years. It was first collected in para district of brazil. Sri henry Wickham brought the seeds of para rubber from Brazil to India and [[Sri Lanka]] through the kew botanical garden in 1876. At first, the plantation was done in Malayasia and Sri Lanka and later in Java, Sumatra, India and parts of [[Indonesia]]. {{Biology-stub}} [[Category:Euphorbiaceae]]