The wood of the Hevea exotic tree is different. What is good furniture made of solid hevea wood made in Malaysia? Botanical description of the tree

Crockery from natural materials(for example, from clay or wood) always gives warmth. It is the warmth of nature itself. And such dishes are not just practical, safe and environmentally friendly, they will always become a decoration of your kitchen.

What kind of tree is hevea?

The hevea tree, native to Brazil and Southeast Asia, is a plantation of artificially planted trees that show grooves of notches. A cup is tied to the incisions, into which the milk-white sap of the tree flows - the raw material from which rubber is made. Thanks to natural rubber, hevea wood is very durable, it is classified as Hardwood, along with teak and oak. Rubber sap protects the wood from insect pests, as a result, the wood inside is always whole and without damage. Juice is given by trees at the age of 10-12 years and for 20-25 years. After the sap has ceased, the trees are cut down. The log cabin is transported to a sawmill, where they are sawn into boards and dried. In place of the felled trees, new ones are planted, which in 10 years will also begin to secrete juice.

At the factory, the boards are ground and then cut into blanks, depending on their purpose. Hevea has a very dense light wood of cream and milky shades. Due to the fact that the moisture in the wood is only 8-10%, the material is resistant to temperature changes!!

gevey3 unique properties, hevea wood is an excellent material for making durable kitchen utensils and small furniture. It does not crack, does not dry out, does not absorb moisture and odors.

Hevea products will decorate any kitchen interior, bring comfort and coziness to your life!

If we talk about kitchen utensils, they make cutting boards, bread bins, all kinds of coasters for hot dishes, salad bowls and cutlery, cheese cutters, trays and breakfast tables, shelves, mills and spice sets. All of the listed items of kitchen utensils should always be present in the kitchen of a practical housewife, especially from the natural material of the hevea tree, which is safe for human health.

Hevea brazilian(lat. Hēvea brasiliēnsis) - plant; species of the genus Hevea of ​​the Euphorbiaceae family (Euphorbiaceae), the main source of natural rubber.

The whey remaining after the separation of the rubber contains about 0.6% protein and can be added to animal feed. The seeds contain 35-37% drying oil suitable for the production of drying oil.

Hevea Brazilian tree description

An evergreen tree up to 20-30 m high. The trunk is straight, up to 30-50 cm thick, with a whitish bark. All parts of the plant contain milky sap (latex).
Leaves trifoliate, leathery, oval shape with pointed top
their length reaches 15 cm. They are collected in bunches at the ends of the branches. The leaves of Hevea brazilian are replaced annually.
The plant is monoecious with unisexual flowers. The flowers are small, white-yellow, collected in loose brushes.
The fruit is a tricuspid capsule with three ovoid, 2.5-3 mm long, seeds with a dense shell.

Hevea Brazilian, is a plant of the humid tropics. For normal growth, hevea requires a climate with a uniform average temperature of about 25-27 ° C and 1500-2000 mm of precipitation per year.
Hevea is not very demanding on the soil, although it grows best on humus-rich soils with a high level of ground water. It is grown mainly on the plains and lower slopes of the mountains: in higher terrain, tree growth slows down and plantation productivity decreases.

The Pará rubber tree originally grew only in tropical forests Amazons. Increasing demand and the discovery of vulcanization in 1839 led to a rubber boom in the region, enriching the cities of Berlen and Manus. The name of the tree comes from Para, the second largest Brazilian state, whose capital is Belém.
Hevea brasilensis trees were used to produce rubber by the local people who inhabited these lands. Among the Olmec peoples who inhabited Mesoamerica at that time, rubber balls were found, made from primitive rubber, which was obtained from trees that also produce latex, these trees were called Castilla elastica Castilla Elastica. The first mention of this plant was 3600 years ago. The ancient Olmecs used the rubber balls used in the Mesoamerican ball game.

The content of rubber in the milky juice of this tree, growing in the Amazon basin, reaches 40-50%. The demand for rubber arose in the 19th century. and increased sharply after, having discovered the process of vulcanization, people learned how to get rubber. Rubber material has become widely used in many industries. In the middle of the XIX century. The Brazilian state of Para was considered the supplier of the best rubber, where it was obtained from the milky juice of the wild-growing hevea brazilian. In 1875, the British brought a large consignment of hevea seeds from Brazil and began to grow this tree in Sri Lanka and Singapore. Soon, the vast plantations of hevea in Southeast Asia began to produce cheaper rubber than that supplied from Brazil.

Hevea brazilian is native to South America, but subsequently the disease of epiphytosis practically destroyed the plant on the mainland. Even then, the competition of the Amazonian culture from the hevea culture in Asia was very high. Back in 1876, the British took a large number of hevea seeds from Brazil, and planted this crop in Southeast Asia. Currently, Hevea brazilian is widely cultivated in tropical Asia. There are large plantations of Hevea brazilian and in some African countries, for example, in Nigeria.

Green color indicates the places where Hevea Brazilian grows

Hevea brasiliensis was amphidiploidized from two unknown diploid species.
The main hevea hybrids planted on plantations are GT1 and RIM600. The planting density of Hevea GT1 hybrid seedlings is 555 pcs. per 1 hectare, and Hevea hybrid RIM600 - 408 pcs. per 1 hectare. Both Hevea Brazilian hybrids are drought tolerant. During cultivation, seedlings are treated with insecticides and herbicides during their growth period, especially during the monsoon rains from July to November.

Hevea Braziliana is a tree from which rubber is extracted - the main raw material for the production of rubber and rubber products. Natural latex obtained from Givea Brazili is used in the manufacture of latex balloons.

The maximum productivity of the Hevea plantation of 2 tons of latex per 1 ha is achieved in the 8th, sometimes in the 9th year after planting and lasts up to 30 years. In the next period, the productivity of rubber extraction noticeably decreases to 1 ton. After 40 years of operation, the plantations are subject to cutting down.

To collect the latex, make fresh grooved, spiral cuts in the bark so as not to damage the cambium, and attach a cup to the tree to collect the sap. Latex is released from the incision for 3-5 hours, and most intensively - early in the morning. Collect latex almost all year round, except for periods of intensive leaf change and heavy rains.

Use of Hevea Brazilian wood

Latex production declines as the rubber tree ages. After the trees reach the age of 25-30 years, as a rule, hevea brazilian, by this age, rubber releases very little. Old trees are cut down. Previously, all the wood from felled trees was burned in rubber sheet smokehouses. Today, this wood is used to make furniture.

What is good furniture made of solid wood hevea
For example, the small state of Malaysia. In this country there are large plantations of Hevea Brazil for the extraction of rubber. Malaysia is highly developed. furniture manufacturing from this tree. Malaysia ranks tenth on the list of global exporters of high quality furniture, with furniture exports worth $3 billion a year. The main reason for the developed furniture industry is the use of the so-called "golden tree" from which Malaysian furniture is made. Under the "golden tree" is meant the tree of Hevea of ​​Brazil. That's right, hevea is called by the Malaysians themselves. We call it the rubber tree.

Having settled in Krabi for the first time, we often, driving along the local paths, paid attention to the even groves of trees, to the trunks of which funnels were attached to collect the juice. The groves themselves attracted us, they were painfully slender and sunny, and then there were these funnels, which give rise to many questions in an inquisitive head :) Having asked the owner of our houses, on whose lands we also saw these trees, we found out that this is how natural rubber. The one from which latex is made, which is so popular with tourists.

Name of this generous tree- hevea. It is difficult to describe how much hevea grows here and there in Thailand, and in Krabi in particular. Any free land turns into thickets of hevea. Last season we rode past a pineapple field, and already this season it was planted with hevea. Apparently more profitable. That is, not so much enterprises as ordinary people are imprisoned. And they apparently already sell the collected juice to producers, or their intermediaries.

Since ancient times, hevea has been called the "golden tree." And this is no accident. In addition to being considered the best rubber tree in the world, hevea also makes an excellent wood for furniture production. Hevea belongs to the valuable species of redwood. Thanks to the sticky milky veins inside the trunk, the wood becomes strong and durable, insects do not gnaw it, which allows the wood to remain solid, without any flaws. Due to the humid warm climate in which hevea grows, its wood is almost impervious to moisture, resistant to high temperatures, and due to approximately the same humidity and temperature throughout the year, rings do not form inside the trunk. Moreover, the processing of this wood is simple, and hevea can be polished almost to a mirror shine!

by the most best years to obtain rubber are from the beginning of the 8-9th year of growth of hevea. Juice continues to stand out on average up to 30 years. Then the tree is cut down, and new young heveas are planted in its place. The cut tree is used for wood processing.

Hevea does not require special care. Humid equatorial climate does all the work for a person.
Hevea juice white color, very sticky and thick (put her finger in to check =)), dripping slowly and for a long time. When the bowl is full, the rubber is collected in containers.

I came across a very interesting specimen with a bowl of coconut shell. More often, however, there are some kind of rubber cone-shaped cups, it is probably easier to extract this white liquid from them.

To make the juice run, the tree is cut with longitudinal cuts, removing part of the bark.

For some reason, at such moments, I always feel sorry for the trees: (It seems they suffer so much from this: (By the way, the word “rubber” was invented by the Indians, because the hevea was originally from South America. So, translated from the Indian “kau” - a tree, "I teach" - to cry, i.e. weeping tree. So I'm on the same wavelength with the Indians and their theory about the tears of Hevea =)

I met such a wonderful tree “face to face” in my life. For so much time spent in Thailand, meetings with Hevea were daily, because for me it is now no less dear than Russian birch =)

Story

After the thinking man came up with the vulcanization process, a "rubber fever" began among business people, enriching the especially enterprising and allowing the state of Para to revive its dormant economy. Such a privilege of the Brazilian state did not suit the crowd of businessmen from other places, and therefore Hevea seeds were smuggled out of the country and the plant spread rather quickly in the British colonies of Southeast and South Asia, as well as in the tropics of West Africa.

The word "rubber" is also borrowed from the language of the American Indians. They called the milky juice dripping from a wounded trunk "kao-chu", which meant "tears of a tree". From these "tears" the boys made a soft ball and strengthened their legs by playing with it.

Description

Leathery trifoliate leaves are not without decorative effect, which is given to an oval leaf by clearly defined veins. The top of the leaf is pointed.

Loose brushes of inflorescences are formed by white-yellow small same-sex flowers. Male and female flowers are on the same tree, that is, Hevea brasiliensis is a monoecious plant.

Hevea seeds are reliably protected by a dense shell and a fruit - a box that hides three seeds in its three compartments.

Production life of Hevea brasiliensis

The process of collecting latex has its own name - "tipping". A spiral incision is made in the bark of the tree, which cuts through the latex vessels of the tree. If a real professional who knows the structure of the tree is busy with the business, then such a tap will produce latex for five years.

To prevent the latex from hardening in the hot tropical sun, the collection is carried out at night, or ammonia is added to the collection cup, which allows the latex to remain in a liquid state longer. In Malaysia today, special plastic bags are used instead of cups.

One of the wonderful plants that mother nature has filled our earth with is the hevea tree. Why is it special, what use did a person come up with for it, and what does it look like? Let's figure it out.

Appearance and features of the plant

Hevea (rubber tree) is a tropical plant that is found in Indonesia, Malaysia and is special in that when the bark is cut, milky white juice comes out, which resembles the juice of the milkweed or dandelion familiar to everyone. The frozen mass was used by the Indians to make different items everyday life, including balls for ritual games.

The hevea tree itself belongs to the genus, therefore it is distinguished by its extraordinary strength and hardness of wood, which is also easy to process. Products made from it are resistant to decay, therefore they are very durable and beautiful. But the main value of this evergreen plant up to fifty meters high is its juice.

rubber milk

This is how the inhabitants of the tropics call the juice that the Hevea plant gives. Latex (scientifically the same juice) is not extracted from every tree. First of all, it should reach the age of ten or twelve years. And only its height and trunk diameter help to determine the age of a hevea, since it does not have rings on the cut and texture. "Adult" can be considered a plant with a height of 24 meters and a diameter of 75 centimeters. It is possible to extract rubber from one tree for up to thirty years, after which it is cut down and replaced with a young plant. But hevea is not specially planted: in a humid and warm environment, its large seeds, resembling chestnuts, germinate themselves. Therefore, workers are even forced to thin out thickets of young plants so that they do not turn into an impenetrable jungle.

It is worth noting that latex is extracted not only from hevea. The thick juice of some varieties of ficuses has similar properties, but still the Brazilian plant is the most productive, and the rubber from it is of higher quality. That is why the hevea tree has flooded all the world's plantations.

How is rubber harvested?

The juice, which is extracted from hevea, contains, in addition to rubber, water, proteins, resins, ash and sugar. Therefore, after collection, the liquid is cleaned and “squeezed out” of water. This is the so-called raw rubber, which is further converted into a material for various rubber products.

Every morning, the hevea tree undergoes such an operation: an incision is made on the trunk with a special knife, deep and inclined. Containers for collecting milk juice are attached under it - clay or porcelain cups of small size. About two hundred grams of juice can be collected from one plant per day. After lunch, a worker walks around the rubber plantation and pours all the contents into a can. And then the "harvest" is sent to the plant for further processing.

Hevea juice in a factory

What is done next with the juice collected from It is filtered, acetic acid is added and poured into large baking sheets. There, the mass thickens and freezes. Then these white panels are rolled through patterned iron rolls and dried. The final stage is smoking, due to which the rubber acquires a waxy color and protection from voracious ants.

One tree life

It is worth noting that the old rubber tree looks very bad. After all, every day for fifteen or twenty years they mutilate him with incisions. This crust covers the entire trunk from the base to human height (it is inconvenient to collect juice above). Each new groove is made lower than the previous one on the whole section of the bark, and when one side of the tree is covered with notches, they move to the other. When not a single untouched place remains there, the worker again returns to the front of the trunk and cuts the “wounds” covered with a scar. In total, during the life of one hevea, about ten thousand cuts are applied to its body, from which up to two tons of rubber are collected.

It is worth noting that the maintenance of rubber plantations is a very profitable business. On the world market, a ton of raw material costs about six hundred dollars, and one tree can produce sap for 40-50 dollars a year without requiring special costs. That is why in the Malay Archipelago, it is hevea that grows on every free piece of land. The tree, the photo of which is presented in this article, is considered here the gift of the gods, and it forms an important part of the economy of countries.

Afterword

It is worth noting that rubber tree wood is often used today for the production of furniture, frames, kitchen accessories, and floors. Cutting boards made from it are especially good because they do not absorb moisture. And the special coloring of hevea allows you to make exclusive things and bring the most bizarre fantasies of designers to life. Here it is, a unique tree from the New World, which has made human life more comfortable. And now the main task of Homo sapiens is the preservation of this plant, since it may disappear from the face of the earth due to its intensive use.

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