Rubber confusion

Prompted by the NYRB, I recently bought a copy of the book at reference 1. A book written in Russian by an émigré in New York, but which I was reduced to buying from ebay, in French, from Leipzig. Quite a nice paperback from the people at reference 3, nearly new.

Written with the rather dark humour which seems to be one of the hallmarks of books from Russia and Central Europe, the narrator talks at one point of the mere sight of potted plants in hospitals - in particular the ficus - making him heave.

Ever curious, I wonder what sort of plant this might be and it turns out to be Ficus elastica, otherwise the well known house plant, the rubber plant. The one that oozes white sap if you break a shoot off. The middle snap above. Or a wild one, from Ghana, right. A member of the genus Ficus, otherwise the fig trees. The fruits of which I buy from Turkey, last noticed at reference 4.

Digging further, I find that the rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis, is something quite different, a member of the Euphorbia family, otherwise spurge. Other members of which are also popular plants of house and garden. The source of all our rubber. You can make the stuff from the rubber plant but not commercially viable. Left in the snap above.

Clearly a taxonomist manqueé. 

PS: the book was apparently posted from somewhere near the building in Leipzig snapped from gmaps above. Probably the people at reference 5. People who, inter alia, operate huge warehouses full of books. I learn that large tracts of Leipzig are nearly new.

Reference 1: Le Compromis - Dovlatov, Sergueï - 1981

Reference 2: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergue%C3%AF_Dovlatov.

Reference 3: https://www.editionsdurocher.fr/home.

Reference 4: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/07/warf-day.html.

Reference 5: https://momox.biz/de/.

Reference 6: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/07/a-letter-to-mother.html. A post about a book bought from their Berlin operation.