Grantville Gazette VI by Eric Flint
Table 1: Listed Rubber Sources: Where and How to Find Them
Rubber Plant (Note A)
Range: Range (to extent known in Grantville); Descriptive Material (as available in Grantville (Note B)
Hevea brasiliensis
Para Rubber Tree (major source in OTL)
(Often confused with other producing Hevea species, such as H. guianensis, H. benthamiana, H. pauciflora; H. spruceana is a poor producer.)
Range: W: South America (EA). Range depicted in CE (probably includes other Hevea species). C: Sri Lanka, Malay Archipelago (EA), Straits Settlements, Malay States, Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Burma, south India, West Africa (especially Gold Coast), Congo, tropical Australia (EB11) Range depicted in CE and WBE. There are reports of Hevea paucifolia [sic, pauciflora] and guianensis in British and French Guiana, respectively (EB9)
Descr: EB11 has 1/4 scale drawing of leaves, fruit and seeds; photo of plantation trees; text. EB9 has scale drawings of leaves, male and female flowers, ripe fruit, and seed.
Manihot glaziovii
Ceara or Manioba Rubber Tree
Range: W:Brazil (EA): Northeast Brazil (EB11). Ceara is province of modern Brazil.
C: Ceylon, India (Madras), West Africa, East Africa, Nyasaland, Mozambique (EB11)
Descr: EB11 has scale drawings of branch with flowers, fruit, seeds; photo of tree; text. EB9 has drawings of tree, young leaf, inflorescence, half-ripe capsule, male and female flowers, seed, and seed section.
Castilla elastica
Panama, Castilla, or Ule Rubber Tree
(Other Castilla species produce rubber, e.g., C.ulei.)
Range: W: tropical America (EA); Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, Panama, Nicaragua and, in South America, west of the Andes, especially Peru (EB11) and Ecuador (EB9). Mexican occurrence depicted in CE.
C: West Indies (esp. Trinidad and Tobago), south India, Ceylon, East and West Africa, Nyasaland (EB11)
Descr: EB11 has scale drawing of leaf, twigs with male and female flowers, seed; photo of tree; text. EB9 has drawings of young leaf, seeds, margin of leaf, female flower. EA has description under "Castilla Rubber Tree."
Ficus elastica
Rambong, Assam or Indian Rubber Tree
Range: W: Southeast Asia (EA); India, Ceylon, Sumatra and Java, Burma, Malay archipelago (EB11)
C: West Africa and Egypt ("but not very successful" in Africa). Also an ornamental in Europe.
Descr: EB11 has scale drawing of leaves on twig; photo; text. EA has description under "Rubber Plant."
Funtumia elastica
Lagos, African or Silk Rubber Tree (F)
Range: W: central regions of east and west Africa (Uganda to Sierra Leone). Range depicted in CE and WBE. C: Gold Coast, south Nigeria.
Descr: EB11 has scale drawing of twig with flowers, underside of leaf, fruit; photo of tree; text.
Rubber Vines (EA, CE, EB11)
Range: W: Africa (EA) Africa and Asia (EB11, see note D below)
Descr: EB11 has scale drawing of twig with flowers, fruit. (For the African Landolphia owariensis)
Parthenium argentatum
Guayule (EA, CE, EB11)
Range: W: Mexico and Texas, Chihuahuan Desert (EA). Range depicted in CE.
Descr: text (EA, "Guayule")
Raphionacme utilis Ecanda
Range: W: Portuguese West Africa.
Descr: None, but "Ecanda" may be the native name.
Bleckrodea tonkinensis
Range: W: Tonkin (EB11)
Descr: None, except that it is a large tree.
Hancornia speciosa
The Pernambuco or Mangabeira Rubber Tree,
Range: W: the plateau region (3,000 to 5,000 ft. above sea level), from Pernambuco to Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. (EB11)
Descr: text.
Sapium species
Range: W: Columbia and Guiana, especially S. jenmani of Guiana (EB11).
Descr: just "large trees resembling Hevea."
Taraxacum kok-saghyz
Russian Dandelion (EA, CE)
Range: W: Turkestan (EA)
Descr: none, but similar to common dandelion.
Solidago
Goldenrod (CE)
Range: Familiar American plant.
Asclepias syriaca
Common Milkweed
Range: Familiar American plant.
Table 2: Productivity of Identifiable Rubber Plants
Rubber Plant (Note A)
Collection: Methods
Density: (Trees per Acre, Tr/Ac); Age in years to First Tapping (y)
Yield/Tree: Rubber, pounds per tree per year
Yield/Acre: Rubber, pounds per acre per year (Note C)
Hevea brasiliensis
Para Rubber Tree (major source in OTL). (Often confused with other producing Hevea species, such as H. guianensis, H. benthamiana, H. pauciflora; H. spruceana is a poor producer.)
Collection: Incision tapping by Ridley method on alternate days (56 g latex per tap)[EA]; V-, herringbone or spiral cuts [EB11], Felling is ineffective for rubber collection.
Density: W: tap at 10-15y [EB11]1 Tr/Ac [Dean10], C: 150 Tr/Ac; tap 6-7y [EB11]; 150 Tr/Ha; tap at 5-7y, productive for 30-40 more yrs. [EA]; 100 Tr/Ac [Enc]; 100 Tr/Ac [WBE];
Yield/Tree: W: 10-15 [EB11]; 2-10 [Dean 10], C1910: 1-2 [EB11]; 0.41-6.76 (6-12 yrs, Malaysia and Ceylon)[Br 126-7]; C1920: 5 [TW301]; CM: 6 [EA]; 4-5 "ordinary" or 12-16 "selected and bud grafted" [CE];
Yield/Acre: W:2-15 [Calc, EB11+Dean], C1900: 382* kg/Ha [EB], C1910: 128-221 (6-7 yr., Malaysia) 105-200 (Ceylon) 105-768 (6-12 yr., combined), [Br126-7] C1940: 342-513* [PH273]; CM: 800-1,000 (avg), 2000+ (top) [EA]; 400-2,000-3,000 [Enc];1,800[WBE]; 798-2,280* [PH273]
Manihot glaziovii
Ceara or Manioba Rubber Tree
Collection: Tapping
Density: tap at 5y [EB11]; 700+ Tr/Ac [PH267]; 320 Tr/Ac [Br150-1]
Yield/Tree: 1+ [EB11]
Yield/Acre: C: 88-176 Germ E Africa (5-8 yr.)[Br150-1]
Castilla elastica
Panama, Castilla, or Ule Rubber Tree
(Other Castilla species produce rubber, e.g., C. ulei.)
Collection: Incision tapping [EA]; herringbone or spiral cut [EB11]; or felling [PH16]; 1-4 taps/y [PH102]
Density: tap at 6y [PH109] 8y [PH104]; 50 [PH267] or 100-120 Tr/Ac [PH109]; 400-700[TW32]; 200/Ac [TW279]
Yield/Tree: W:12[PH93]; 40 [EB11](tree killing tap?), C:0.93-1.01* [PH109], 0.1-1.1*/tap [Br222], 0.38-1/tap [TW150], 0.1-0.4 (6-10y)[TW279]; 0.13/tap [TW32], Felled Tr: max 100 [PH16] 51-73* [PH109]; avg 15-20 [TW148]
Yield/Acre: C:50 [TW279]
Ficus elastica
Rambong, Assam or Indian Rubber Tree
Collection: Shredding of leaves and shoots [EA]; tapping [EB11]
Density: 50 Tr/Ac [PH267]; tap @10y[EB11], can't tap each yr. [Br233]
Yield/Tree: C: 5-10 [EB11], 0.65-2.3 [Br232]
Yield/Acre: C: 500-1,000 [calc]; but 13-52 [Br232]
Funtumia elastica
Lagos, African or Silk Rubber Tree (F)
Collection: Incision tapping, herringbone [EB11]
Density: tap at 20y [EB]; at 5y [Ch193]; tap 2-3 times/y [Ch161]; tap 1-2/y [Br161], W: up to 150-250 Tr/Ac [Ch36]; C1910: 450-600 [Ch97]
Yield/Tree: Tapped (3/yr) 0.19@5y, 0.56@ 8y, 0.94@10y [Ch161]; ~1/tp [Br176] Felled Tr:0.64 [Ch161] 4.5-6.5[Br176]
Yield/Acre: W: ~150-375 [150-250 x 2-3 *.5] C: ~450-900 [450-600 x 2-3 *.5]
Rubber Vines (EA, CE, EB11)
Collection: Cut stems; or macerate roots or rhizomes in hot water [EB11]
Density: ?
Yield/Tree: 6-7/Pl [PH40]; 0.06-0.18/Pl [Br197]
Yield/Acre: ?
Solidago
Goldenrod (CE)
Collection: harvest and extract resin with acetone and rubber with benzol [PH268]
Density: 10-20,000 Pl/Ac [PH268]
Yield/Tree:
Yield/Acre: C: 100 in 1929, >300 in 1934 [Van293-300; Bal398,
Asclepias syriaca
Common Milkweed
Collection: harvest and extract
Density: 10-20,000 Pl/Ac [PH268]
Yield/Tree:
Yield/Acre: C1940: 114-171* [Whiting]
Productivity of Trees for Which Description Is Limited
Hancornia speciosa
The Pernambuco or Mangabeira Rubber Tree,
Collection: Incision Tapping (8 oblique cuts all around trunk)[EB11]
Density:
Yield/Tree:
Yield/Acre:
Parthenium argentatum
Guayule (EA, CE, EB11)
Collection: Shredded; leached with hot water [EA]
Density: C: 3-5y [EA];4-5y [Van284]; 5-9y [PH233]; 8,000-16,000 Pl/Ac [PH267];7,000-11,000 Pl/Ac (Van284, 308)
Yield/Tree:
Yield/Acre: C: 137-241 [PH233], 325-400 [Van284]
Taraxacum kok-saghyz
Russian Dandelion (EA, CE)
Collection: Shredded; leached with hot water[EA]
Density:
Yield/Tree:
Yield/Acre: C1940: 285 (Suomela)
Notes to Tables 1 and 2:
(A) With the exception of milkweed, the cited plant names appear in the Encyclopedia Americana (EA), the modern Encyclopedia Britannica (EB), the Eleventh (EB11) or Ninth (EB9) editions of the Encyclopedia Britannica, the World Book Encyclopedia (WBE), or Collier's Encyclopedia (CE) as sources of rubber.
There are three plants which produce nonelastic rubbers which can be used for insulation, belting, etc. Trees of the genera Palagium and Payena, found in the Malay Archipelago, produce gutta percha. Manilkaea bidentata, found in tropical America, produces balata. Manilkaea zapota, the Sapodilla Tree of Mexico and Central America, produces chicle (mostly used in chewing gum). (EA)
(B) The wild (W) and cultivated (C) range information is primarily from EA and EB11. Info on sites of cultivation includes experimental plantings which may not ultimately have proven successful. Descriptions of the plants are from EB11, unless otherwise stated.
(C) In general, productivity data is not available in Grantville; the one exception is Hevea. The encyclopedia data is cited in the main text. "Enc" is Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. The remaining data was collected from various industry sources. "PH" is Polhamus; "Br" is Brown, "Ch" is Christy,"TW" is Treadwell, "Van" is Vanderbilt, "Bal" is Baldwin. W: wild production. C: cultivated. C1910: cultivated production circa 1910. C1940: cultivated production circa 1940. CM: cultivated production in modern times, shortly before ROF. "Tr" means tree, "Pl" means plant. In converting metric to English units, I used 2.5 acres per hectare and 2.2 pounds per kilogram. One kilogram per hectare equates to about 1.14 pounds per acre. Note that productivity is dependent on the location, the age of the tree, the frequency and method of tapping, and so forth.
(D) Various rubber producing vines of the family Apocynaceae, especially (1) the genus Landolphia, and its species L. owariensis, L. heudelotii, L. kirkii and L. dawei, in tropical Africa, (2) the genera Clitandra and Carpodinus in West Africa, (3) the Forsteronia gracilis of British Guiana, (4) the Forsteronia floribunda of Jamaica, (5) the genera Willughbeia and Leuconitis of Borneo, (6) Parmeria glandulifera of Siam and Borneo, and (7) Urceola esculenta and Cryptostegia grandiflora of Burma (EB11). Note that EA states that Cryptostegia grandiflora is found in Africa.
(E) When guayule is harvested, the plant is usually consumed. Therefore, the annual yield is the nominal yield—the yield in the year of harvest—divided by the harvesting age. Some sources appeared to be reporting the nominal yield, rather than the true annual yield. There has been some experimentation with clipping: harvesting only the part above ground, so the roots can regenerate a new crop. See PH232-3.
References
General Rubber References
cited encyclopedias, see Appendix 1
Brown, Rubber: Its Sources, Cultivation and Preparation (1914)
Schidrowitz and Dawson, History of the Rubber Industry (1952)
Coates, The Commerce in Rubber: The First 250 Years (Oxford Univ. Press: 1987)
Dean, Brazil and the Struggle for Rubber: A Study in Environmental History (1987)
Maclaren, Rubber Tree Book (1913)
Joshi, "Jungle Rubber"
Mongabay, "A Brief History of Rubber (based on Wade Davis, One River 1996)
Polhamus, Rubber: Botany, Production and Utilization (Interscience: 1962)
Polhamus, "Rubber Content of Miscellaneous Plants," USDA/ARS Production Research Report No. 10 (Aug. 1957)(S21.Z2382 no. 10)(USDA 1957)
(specific gravity)
Hildebrand, "Our Most Versatile Vegetable Product," National Geographic (February 1940).
Rubber Reclaiming
Reschner, "Scrap Tire Recycling,"
Para Rubber
Listing of Hevea species and varieties
International Rubber Research and Development Board (IRRDB), "South American Leaf Blight,"
Villard, "Rubber-Cushioned Liberia," National Geographic (February 1948).
Akers, Rubber Industry in Brazil and Orient
Loadman, "Sir Henry Alexander Wickham,"
Treadwell, Possibilities for Para Rubber Production in Northern Tropical America (1926)
Guayule Rubber References
Ford, "Desert Plant May Put Spring in Natural Rubber Production" (Jan. 2, 2002),
Perry, Growing Rubber in California (1946)
Hammond and Polhamus, Research on Guayule
Vietmeyer, "Rediscovering America's Forgotten Crops," National Geographic (May 1981).
See also Vanderbilt (under Goldenrod)
Castilla Rubber References
Cokeley, et al., "Fruit Dispersal of Castilla elastica in secondary forest and a developed area of the La Selva Biological Preserve, Costa Rica"
http://www.woodrow.org/teachers/esi/2000/cr2000/Group_1/Research_Project/Castilla.htm
Treadwell, supra.
Pernambuco Rubber References
IPGRI, "Hancornia speciosa Gomes," in "FRUITS FROM AMERICA: An ethnobotanical inventory"
http://www.ciat.cgiar.org/ipgri/fruits_from_americas/frutales/Ficha%20Hancornia%20speciosa.htm
Goldenrod Rubber References
TrekEarth, "Edison's Lab"
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/North_America/United_States/photo52079.htm
IEEE Virtual Museum, "High Hopes: Edison's Search for a Rubber Alternative,"
http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/collection/event.php?taid=&id=3456957&lid=1
National Park Service, "Goldenrod to Rubber,"
http://www.nps.gov/edis/edisonia/virtual%20tour/chemlab/goldenrod.htm
MSN Encarta, "Thomas Alva Edison,"
Handel, "Thomas Edison Home and Laboratory" (1998)
MSN Encarta, "Edison, Thomas Alva"
see
Vanderbilt, Thomas Edison, Chemist
Baldwin, Edison, Inventing the Century
Israel, Edison: A Life of Invention
Milkweed Rubber References
Whiting, "A Summary of the Literature on Milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) And Their Utilization," USDA Biblio. Bull. 2 (Oct. 15, 1943)(SB 618 M5 W5)
Volaric, Lisa; Hagen, John P., "The Isolation of Rubber from Milkweed Leaves. An Introductory Organic Chemistry Lab," J. Chem. Educ. 2002 79 91
Beckett, "Rubber Content and Habits of a Second Desert Milkweed (Asclepias Erosa) of Southern California and Arizona"
Witt, M.D. and H.D. Knudsen. "Milkweed cultivation for floss production," in: J. Janick and J.E. Simon (eds.), New Crops 428-31 (Wiley, New York. 1993)
Duke, James A.. "Asclepias syriaca," Handbook of Energy Crops (online, 1983)
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Asclepias_syriaca.html
"Chemistry for Kids Summer Camp 2001"
(Ohioan fifth to seventh graders in John Carroll University's "Chemistry for Kids" program studied latex from milkweed and dandelions.)
"Project Science--Ooze Balls Kit"
Schuster, "Plant Study of Milkweed"
DeMarce, Virginia, posting to "Dead Horse: Rubber," 1632 Tech Manual (Nov. 5, 2004)
Boatright, Rick, posting to "Dead Horse: Rubber," 1632 Tech Manual
DeGooyer
http://www.agron.iastate.edu/~weeds/weedbiollibrary/u4milkw1.html
http://www.ars.usda.gov/sites/monarch/sect2_5.html
Dandelion Rubber
Kolachov, "Kok-Saghyz, family 'Compositae,' as a Practical Source of Natural Rubber for the United States," National Farm Chemurgic Council Bulletin (1942).
Whaley, "Russian Dandelion (Kok-Saghyz): An Emergency Source of Natural Rubber," USDA Misc. Pub. 618 (June 1947).