Which flowering tree is the main natural source of rubber in the Amazon Rainforest?

Hevea brasiliensis is the flowering tree that provides most of the Amazon’s natural rubber.

The species is commonly called the Pará rubber tree and is native to the Amazon region. Its latex is collected by making controlled cuts in the bark and allowing the milky sap to run into a container. The latex is then processed into rubber.

Amazonian rubber became globally important during the rubber boom of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Rubber plantations were later established in Southeast Asia, where the crop could be grown on a large commercial scale and harvested more efficiently.

A common mix-up is confusing this tree with the Brazil nut tree, which produces edible seeds, or the cacao tree, whose seeds are used to make chocolate. Hevea brasiliensis is valued specifically for its latex.