The Rubber Tree

In Costa Rica the family Moraceae has two species of rubber trees. The (Castilla tunu) and the (Castilla elastica) in the Peninsula de Osa. This tree is one of the most common trees in the Lapa Rios Reserve located between the Golfo Dulce and Corcovado National Park. You can find it both in the primary and the secondary rainforest.

In the past this tree was used to manufacture al kind of rubber products. Nowadays most of the rubber used is sintethic rubber. The saps of this tree witch is called latex, is extracted by making an zigzag incision in the bark of the tree, this latex is boiled and mixed with sulphur. The tree itself also attracts a lot of birds and animals in times when it produces fruits.