What is this plant with a thick woody stem and waxy leaves?

Question

I found this plant in the recycling room in my building and its taken quite well to its new home. But what is it?

score 10 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 21 '16 at 16:20

This is the rubber plant, Ficus elastica. It has white sticky sap and can grow into a tree (100 - 200 feet 30 - 60 M) tall when grown outdoors in the tropics.

This plant will tolerate shade, neglect and more. A nice appearance and good health is maintained with

diffuse high light
regular watering
fertilize lightly once a year
repot yearly if you want a big plant
do not be afraid to cut back hard if it looks leggy. This plant will bud slowly from old wood
pests are infrequent due to the hard waxy coating but mealybug and scale can occur. Soap and water applications at 5 ml/l will control the problem.

Now we just need a metal tree and we never have to buy tires again!! — corsiKa, Apr 21 '16 at 20:45

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 21 '16 at 16:11

2

Looks like a rubber tree to me. If you break a leaf off, is it sticky milky ooze?

answered Apr 21 '16 at 16:11

Escoce

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Yes the latex does ooze out. – max Apr 22 '16 at 00:00

What is this plant with a thick woody stem and waxy leaves?

2 Answers2

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