Castilla elastica (genus Castilla) is a tree native to the tropical areas of Mexico and Central America which was, in pre-Columbian times, the principal source of latex among the MesoAmerican peoples. The latex gathered from Castilla elastica was converted into usable rubber by mixing the latex sap with the juice of the morning glory species Ipomoea alba which, conveniently, is typically found in the wild as a vine climbing Castilla elastica. The rubber produced by this method found several uses, including most notably, the manufacture of balls for the Mesoamerican ballgame. Species See text Castilla (sometimes incorrectly spelled Castilloa) is a tree genus belonging to the family Moraceae found native in Central America. ... For other uses, see Central America (disambiguation). ... The LaTeX logo, typeset with LaTeX LATEX, written as LaTeX in plain text, is a document markup language and document preparation system for the TeX typesetting program. ... Mesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south to the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before the European discovery of the New World by Columbus. ... Latex being collected from a tapped rubber tree Rubber is an elastic hydrocarbon polymer which occurs as a milky colloidal suspension (known as latex) in the sap of several varieties of plants. ... Morning Glory flower An unopened spiral bud of a morning glory flower Morning glory is a common name for over a thousand species of flowering plants in the family the Convolvulaceae, belonging to the following genera: Calystegia Convolvulus Ipomoea Merremia Rivea As the name implies, morning glory flowers, which are... Binomial name Ipomoea alba L. Ipomoea alba, sometimes called the moonflower (but not to be confused with the other species of that name), is a species of night-blooming morning-glory, with large, white flowers. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Ulama game. ...
Castilla, which grew in Central America and northern South America, had its moment of glory, and later Funtumia was introduced into the West Indies from Africa, but only to become another of the West Indian casualties, as Hevea, the genus most amenable to repeated tapping, came into its own.
Castillaelastica still grows as an escape in the West Indies, and it grows wild throughout Central America and northern South America.
The latex canals in Castilla, unlike those in Hevea, are continuous, and not amenable to frequent tappings as with the jebong system.
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