Castilla elastica
The Castilla elastica is a tree with rubber of tropical America of the family of the Moraceae .
Description
Tree which can reach 30 m height.
Surface of distribution
- North America: Mexico
- Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador
- South America: Colombia, Ecuador
Use
The latex of this tree is used since the time précolombienne by the local populations, inter alia the Aztèques, the Mayas and the Olmèques, to manufacture shoes, balls and other objects in rubber. To increase the elasticity by it, one mixed the sap of the Castilla elastica with the juice of a liana, the Ipomoea alba . Indeed, this last made it possible to carry out a kind of Vulcanization before the letter.
External bonds