CHAPTER XI 



THE AFRICAN RUBBER TREE, FUNTUMIA ELASTICA, STAFF 

 {KICKXIA ELASTICA, PREUSS) 



Kickxia and Funtumia. — The African rubber tree belongs 

 to the natural order Apocynaceae and was first described 

 as Kickxia elastica in 1899 by Preuss from specimens 

 collected near Malinde in the Cameroons. Two other 

 allied species, Kickxia ajricana, Benth., and Kickxia 

 latijolia, Stapf, had been previously recorded from Africa, 

 and until Preuss's discovery, Kickxia ajricaiia had been 

 regarded as the rubber-yielding tree. Preuss proved, 

 however, that Kickxia ajricana does not yield rubber but 

 only a resmous product, and that the rubber tree was a 

 distinct species. 



Prior to the discovery of these African species of 

 Kickxia the genus comprised only four species, which were 

 restricted to Malaya, and it therefore appeared that the 

 two groups of Kickxias were widely separated in their 

 geographical distribution. Stapf, however, made a de- 

 tailed study of the African and Asiatic species, and showed 

 that the two groups exhibit marked differences in their 

 morphological characters which are sufficient to justify 

 their recognition as distinct genera. He therefore retained 

 the name Kickxia for the Malayan group, and placed the 

 African species in a new genus, for which he proposed 

 the name Funtumia, from Funtum or O'Funtmn, one of the 

 vernacular names in West Africa for the rubber-5uelding 

 species. The African rubber tree is therefore known 

 either as Funtumia elastica, Stapf, or Kickxia elastica, 

 Preuss. 



Botanical Characters. — Funtumia elastica is a large 

 forest tree, sometimes attaining a height of 100 ft., with 

 an erect tapering cylindrical trunk which is usually 

 covered with a mottled grey bark. The leaves are oppo- 



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