>Gedraphol, Willughbeia edulis, also known as Chittagong Rubber, is a fruit bearing woody climber, with long hooked tendrils, indigenous of the North Eastern part of India, the Himalayas and Burma. Gedraphol is a large climbing plant that when injured releases extensive amounts of a gluey juice (latex) which soon changes in to caoutchouc (natural rubber) by exposure to the air.

Willughbeia edulis stems are reddish, cylindrical and tapering. Leaves are dark green, simple, opposite, and broadly elliptical with a serrate margin at the apex, and showing 22 pairs of nerves below. Flowers are fragrant.

Gedraphol Fruit

The fruit of the Gedrapholis yellow, dark orange or red color when ripe, 5.0 – 7.5cm long and 3.8-5.6 cm wide, the size of a large lemon, resembling small mango, smooth and thick-walled filled with a soft, yellowish flesh, in which are immersed a few seeds. Fruits are edible and taste pleasantly acid, cherished by local people.

Gedraphol Propagation Methods

Plant propagation is by seed. Naturally the plant grows in dense tropical forests but vines are occasionally planted around homes by the local people. This plant yields cautchouc, a milky emulsion, which contains about 25-27 per cent rubber. The cautchouc also yields 55-85 per cent resin. Willughbeia edulis is a member of the family Apocynaceae the genus Willughbeia.

Gedraphol, Willughbeia edulis

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