Laticiferous plants of economic importance

Gutta-gums figure prominently in international trade. For more than 100 years the United States has been, and continues to be, the principal cousumer of these raw materials. Trade reports issued by the U. S. Department of Commerce indicate that during 1960 approximately 11,717,000 pounds of these forest products, with an aggregate value of $6,536,792, were imported, mostly from Malaysia, Central America, and northern South America. These commodities are still furnished mainly by “wild” trees. Plantation development has been limited to small-scale propagation of guttapercha (Palaquium gutta Burck) in Indonesia and Malaya and recently of chilte (Cnidoscolus spp.) in western Mexico. In comparison with Hevea brasiliensis (Willd. ex Adr. Juss.) Muell. Arg., Castilla elastica Cerv., and other species of rubber, relatively little has been published on the sources of gutta-gums.