Rubberwood is wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

 from the Pará rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis). Rubberwood has been produced on a small scale, but has become much more common. There are extensive plantation

Plantation

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

s with these trees in southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

; the earlier practice was to just burn the tree at the end of its latex

Rubber

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...

-producing cycle, due to the poor properties of the wood. Now, industrial processing may serve to keep the deficiencies of inferior quality woods under control in the finished product, and this applies here: the wood from these trees is now put to use on a wide scale. Rubberwood is advertised as an "environmentally friendly" wood, as it makes use of plantation trees that have already served a useful function.

Uses

The wood is very susceptible to decay and should be used only indoors. It has a notable tendency to warp, which can be limited by applying pressure during drying. It is fairly easy to work, and glues well: it is mostly used in the form of finger joint

Finger joint

A finger joint or comb joint is a woodworking joint made by cutting a set of complementary rectangular cuts in two pieces of wood, which are then glued...

ed engineered wood

Engineered wood

Engineered wood, also called composite wood, man-made wood, or manufactured board; includes a range of derivative wood products which are manufactured by binding the strands, particles, fibers, or veneers of wood, together with adhesives, to form composite materials...

, which eliminates some of its disadvantages. Also, as it is a by-product

By-product

A by-product is a secondary product derived from a manufacturing process or chemical reaction. It is not the primary product or service being produced.A by-product can be useful and marketable or it can be considered waste....

 and plentiful, it is cheap. Products made of rubberwood include toys, cutting boards, and lower grades of furniture.

Other names

Rubberwood is sometimes also called parawood, or "Hevea" for the genus that the tree belongs to. In 2002, the Malaysian Ministry of Primary Industries

Cabinet of Malaysia

The Cabinet of Malaysia is the executive branch of Malaysia's government. Led by the Prime Minister, the cabinet is a council of ministers who are accountable collectively to the Parliament. According to the Article 43 of the Constitution, members of the Cabinet can only be selected from members...

marketed it under the name "Malaysian Oak".

External links

• Properties of rubberwood at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Madison
• Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study: The Utilization, processing and demand for Rubberwood as a source of wood supply