Hevea benthamiana facts for kids

Hevea benthamiana is a type of rubber tree. It belongs to the Hevea group of trees and is part of the plant family called Euphorbiaceae. This tree is medium-sized and loses its leaves every year (it's deciduous). It can grow up to about 27 meters (89 feet) tall. You can find it naturally in the rainforests of northern Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela.

About This Rubber Tree

H. benthamiana is a medium-sized tree that can reach about 27 meters (89 feet) in height. It often has a narrow top part (crown) and a trunk that looks swollen or like a bottle at the bottom. These special trunk shapes help the tree survive in areas that flood often. Trees grown in farms usually don't have these swollen trunks.

This tree is deciduous, which means it drops its old leaves before new, short "winter shoots" grow. This might help the tree deal with leaf diseases caused by the constant humidity in the rainforest. Its leaves have three oval-shaped parts, and the underside of these parts is covered in soft, golden-brown hairs.

The tree has special flower clusters called inflorescences. These clusters have separate male and female flowers. The male flowers have seven to nine stamens (the parts that make pollen) arranged in two uneven circles. The seeds of this tree are round.

Where It Lives

This rubber tree is found in northern Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. Its natural home is completely north of the Amazon River. It covers large areas around the Rio Negro and Vaupés River systems. The Rio Negro is the biggest river that flows into the Amazon from the left side.

H. benthamiana grows in rainforest areas that often get flooded. You can often find it growing with the fan palm Mauritia carana in swamps that are flooded all year long. Because it needs these specific wet habitats, it doesn't spread as far west as some other rubber trees like H. guianensis, H. nitida, or H. pauciflora.

How People Use It

H. benthamiana produces good quality latex, which is the milky sap used to make rubber. The quality is a little bit lower than the famous Pará rubber tree, H. brasiliensis. People tap this tree to collect its latex for rubber production.

However, it's not commonly grown on large farms (plantations) for rubber. You might find it grown sometimes in Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Scientists have used H. benthamiana in special breeding programmes. This means they cross it with H. brasiliensis to make the Pará rubber tree stronger against diseases and help it grow better.

The seeds of H. benthamiana contain substances that are not safe to eat raw. They can be harmful to humans if eaten without cooking. But, local people know how to prepare them safely by cooking them very thoroughly before eating.

See also

In Spanish: Hevea benthamiana para niños