Rubber tree
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
| Rubber tree |
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| Scientific Classification |
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| Binomial Name |
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Hevea brasiliensis |
The Para Rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) is best known for being the plant from which rubber (latex) is harvested. Most natural latex comes from the forests of South America where the tree are grown by humans in plantations. Native Americans discovered and used it long before it was known by Europeans.
It is a great example of how God has given us everything we need right here in the nature that he created. It is very apparent that this tree was created for the use of man. We use it in everything from cars to shoes. It’s just another great example of the fact that God provides.
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Anatomy
The anatomy of the Para rubber tree is like most other trees. This rubber tree is a dicot. A dicot is a plant that has two seed leaves when it sprouts. This tree is an angiosperm which means it produces flowers. It has round shaped leaves, flowers. It produces nuts, more like seeds that come in a pod. They have the same basic structure as any other plant it has stem or trunk which provides a highway for nutrients and support for the plant. The leaves are used to collect sunlight to make energy through photosynthesis. Then we have the roots which suck up water and nutrients form the soil below the plant and provide a base or anchor, so that the tree is secure in the ground.
This tree like all others use photosynthesis to make energy. It requires sun and specialized cells that the plant has to perform the production of energy. Trees also in a way suck in carbon dioxide and recycle it and push out pure oxygen. Trees are important to humans because they renew our oxygen supply. That is a reason that the rubber tree is grown, harvested and then replaced with new rubber trees. By doing this we are helping our environment.
Reproduction
The reproduction of angiosperms happens through pollination of flowers. This occurs by insects pollinating flowers on the tree. The pollen from one tree gets transferred to another and then a seed in pod is produced. The flowers on the tree attract pollinators. There is a male and female part on every flower just waiting to be pollinated by a bee or other insect.
Ecology
The Para Rubber tree naturally grows in South America where it is warmer and moist. When rubber trees were discovered they grew only in south America. Then when the demand for rubber grew other places were tried such as Malaysia. Huge tracts of land were cut down and made into rubber plantations. A huge demand for rubber began when the production of cars came into play. Rubber industry went up more than twenty five percent. Rubber has been transported to meet our need and this is how it got to be in so many different places.
Uses
The unique thing about the Para Rubber Tree is that it can be Rubber Tapped. Rubber Tapping is the process of harvesting latex from the tree. This process does not begin until the tree reaches five to six years of age. Yellow or white latex comes out of the tree in sap form. Workers cut into the tree just deep enough to reach the latex vessels or sap vessels, which run around the tree at around a thirty degree incline. Once the cuts are made, small buckets are place under the cut to catch the leaking sap. The older the tree is the more sap in produces. Around the trees twenty sixth year it stops producing.
Most of the rubber we see today comes from a petroleum by product about a quarter of that rubber comes from the natural source of the Rubber Tree. The sap that comes from these trees is also called latex. This latex is used in the production of natural rubber. This tree is important because it contributes to the making of many rubber products such as shoes, balls, household items, and many other products we could not live without.
Gallery
 Rubber Tree |
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References
- Hevea brasiliensis by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- Para rubber Wikipedia.
- Rubber Malyasian Rubber Board.
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