though common report has it that "no cultivation is required.' 7 
Pernambuco Rubber. 
This formerly unimportant but of late years much-talked-of 
rubber is derived from Hancornia speciosa Muell. Arg. It is a 
medium-sized tree native to the dryer coastal plains and up- 
lands from Venezuela to southern Brazil and from the Atlantic 
to the eastern foothills of the Andes in Ecuador, Peru and 
Bolivia. Unlike the Ceara, this tree bears rubber in every part 
of the plant, in the bark, wood, leaves and green fruits. The 
milky sap which flows from wounds becomes rubber without 
other treatment than exposure to the air. The flow of milk sap 
is greatest during the summer months. Although Hancornia 
speciosa is of very slow growth it is being substituted for cof- 
fee by many planters in southern Brazil who see only small 
profits in that business for many years to come. 
The tree grows on a great variety of soils, and is easily propa- 
gated from cuttings. The leaves are about 2 inches long by 3-4 
to 1 inch wide, acute at the base and blunt at the apex. The 
fragrant white flowers are about 1 inch across. The fruit is 
a greenish-yellow berry streaked with red, and is edible. The 
rubber is white and of very good quality. 
These species of rubber plants are the chief sources of the 
American rubber supply. The genera Hevea, Maniliot and Sa- 
pium belong to the Euphobiaceae or Spurge family, well known 
members of which are the Castor Bean, Tua-Tua and Cassava. 
The milky sap which yields the rubber is contained in milk 
tubes in the inner or growing portion of the bark. Hancornia 
belongs to the botanical family Apocynaceae, while Castilloa is 
one of the Moraceae, a family including the fig and bread-fruit. 
Of the 31,462 tons of rubber exported from South and Cen- 
tral American ports in 1900, 25,500 tons were derived from 
trees of the genus Hevea, 4,700 tons from Castilloa and Sa- 
ptum (40% Sapium and 60% Castilloa) and 1,250 tons Ceara 
and Pernambuco rubbers. 
AFRICAN RUBBER PLANTS. 
The African rubber supply is very largely derived from spe- 
cies of vines of several genera belonging to the botanical order 
Apocynaceae. 
L<indolj)liia Hendelotiii D. C. is a woody, slow-growing vine 
native to the dry hot open country from Senegambia to the 
western Soudan, between 9° and 12° X. latitude. While this 
is an important source of rubber it is considered unsuited to 
