rub·ber plant • n. 1. an evergreen tree (Ficus elastica) of the mulberry family that has large dark green shiny leaves and is widely cultivated as a houseplant. Native to Southeast Asia, it was formerly grown as a source of rubber. 2. another term for rubber tree.

rubber plant Evergreen fig native to India and Malaysia. Tree-sized in the tropics, juvenile specimens are grown as houseplants in temperate regions. Once cultivated for its white latex to make India rubber, it has large, glossy, leathery leaves and a stout, buttressed trunk. Height: to 30m (100ft). Family Moraceae; species Ficus elastica.