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Glite Dictionary
🌳 Old plant name 🧵 Stretchy material
elastica

elastica

9.9
An old scientific name for the rubber tree now called Ficus
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : elástica
  • The Ficus elastica is popular for indoor decoration due to its striking leaves.

Examples

  • Farmers cultivate Ficus elastica for its latex, which is used in producing rubber.

  • The memorial is normally carved from the wood of the West African rubber tree (Funtumia elastica).

    Academic text (2008)

  • In tropical regions, Ficus elastica trees can grow up to 30 meters tall.

Compounds

Ficus elastica
  • Specialized
8.4

Large tropical Asian tree with shiny thick leaves often grown indoors and sometimes used to make rubber

Surface Forms

elastica singular
elasticas plural

Morphology

elastica = elastic (opaque) = elastic + a

The form appears to be built on 'elastic', but as a Latinized botanical genus name the connection is specialized and not recoverable for most learners.

Etymology

Elastica was once the name for some tropical rubber trees and comes from the same root as elastic, from an old Greek root elast- meaning 'able to stretch'. So the name pointed to the tree's stretchy sap, which people used to make rubber and other 'stretchy' things.