Rubberwood is wood from the Pará rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis). Rubberwood has been produced on a small scale, but has become much more common. There are extensive plantations with these trees in southeast Asia; the earlier practice was to just burn the tree at the end of its latex-producing cycle, due to the poor properties of the wood. Now, industrial processing may serve to keep the deficiencies of inferior quality woods under control in the finished product, and this applies here: the wood from these trees is now put to use on a wide scale. Rubberwood is advertised as an "environmentally friendly" wood, as it makes use of plantation trees that have already served a useful function.
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The wood is very susceptible to decay and should be used only indoors. It has a notable tendency to warp, which can be limited by applying pressure during drying. It is fairly easy to work, and glues well: it is mostly used in the form of finger jointed engineered wood, which eliminates some of its disadvantages. Also, as it is a by-product and plentiful, it is cheap. Products made of rubberwood include toys, cutting boards, and lower grades of furniture.
Rubberwood is sometimes also called parawood, or "Hevea" for the genus that the tree belongs to. In 2002, the Malaysian Ministry of Primary Industries marketed it under the name "Malaysian Oak".[1]