rubber plant

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

rub′ber plant′, 

1. Plant Biology a plant, Ficus elastica, of the mulberry family, having oblong, shining, leathery leaves, growing native as a tall tree in India, the Malay Archipelago, etc., used as a source of rubber and cultivated in Europe and America as an ornamental house plant.
2. Plant Biology any plant yielding caoutchouc or India rubber.
• 1885–90

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

rubber plant noun

1. a moraceous plant, Ficus elastica, with glossy leathery leaves: a tall tree in India and Malaya, it is cultivated as a house plant in Europe and America
2. any of several tropical trees, the sap of which yields rubber
   See also rubber tree