Natural rubber primarily comes from the latex, a milky liquid sap, extracted mainly from the Pará rubber tree, scientifically known as Hevea brasiliensis. This tree is native to the Amazon rainforest in South America but is now predominantly cultivated in tropical regions of Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and parts of South China
. The latex is harvested through a process called tapping, which involves making incisions in the bark of the rubber tree and collecting the flowing sap in cups. The collected latex is then processed through coagulation and other steps to produce natural rubber suitable for commercial use
. While the Hevea brasiliensis tree is the primary source, natural rubber can also be obtained from other plants such as the Guayule shrub in Northern Mexico and the Kazak/Russian dandelion, though these are less common and still under development as alternative sources
. In summary, natural rubber comes mainly from the sap of the Hevea brasiliensis tree, grown mostly in tropical areas of Southeast Asia today, with origins in the Amazon rainforest of South America
