362 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



Funtum tree, yield rubber when tapped. The 

 latex is spread out, coagulates, and layer on layer, 

 is prepared for market. The old method was to 

 cut down the vines to drain their juices. As they 

 grow on forest trees, they form a jungle in which 

 it is difficult to collect the latex. 



The rootstocks of certain Landolphias and 

 other plants, and the tuberous roots of the 

 Guayule plant of Mexico and the Ecanda plant of 

 West Africa yield "root rubber," which is ex- 

 tracted by breaking them up in hot water, and 

 later separating the waxy rubber from the residue. 



It is not likely that these plants will be used 

 when the growing of plantations and the harvest- 

 ing of rubber from wild forests are put on a sound 

 economic basis. 



GUTTA PERCHA 



"Getah taban" is the name by which the 

 native of the Malay Peninsula calls two closely 

 related trees that he taps for their gray, milky 

 juice. The shamefully wasteful, primitive method 

 is to cut down the tree, strip off the bark in rings, 

 groove the wood to make the juice flow, and boil 

 the fragments of wood and bark to get all the 

 latex possible. It is the residue, after the water 



