Question

    Which tree produces natural

    rubber?
    A Mesoamerican trees Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    B Hevea brasiliensis Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    C Melaleuca trees Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    D pine tree Correct Answer Incorrect Answer

    Solution

    The major commercial source of natural rubber latex is the Pará rubber tree ( Hevea brasiliensis) a member of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. This species is preferred because it grows well under cultivation. A properly managed tree responds to wounding by producing more latex for several years. Mesoamerican trees are domesticated plants of Mesoamerica , established by agricultural developments and practices over several thousand years of pre-Columbian history, include maize and capsicum. Melaleuca trees have white flowers which are small and crowded in bottlebrush-like spikes at branch tips. The fruit are short, cylindric or squarish, woody capsules with many tiny seeds.Melaleuca produceshuge quantities of seeds, which become smalltrees, which grow into almost impenetrable monocultures. Pine trees reproduce byproducingseeds. Unlike deciduoustrees, whichproduceseeds that are surrounded by fruit,pineseeds are located on scales of structures called cones (pinecones).

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