Rubber plant varieties and leaf colors
Choose a rubber plant by foliage: Tineke is cream-and-green variegated, Robusta is glossy dark green, Decora has a pale midrib, and Abidjan has bronze undersides.
Check the species, variety, group or trade name
Plant names and labels
- Taxonomy
- The target is the accepted species Ficus elastica. The RHS named profiles are cultivars within this species, not separate rubber-plant species. A nursery label or photograph does not prove a cultivar identity when no name is supplied.
- Group
- Useful named comparison points include dark-green ‘Robusta’, cream-and-green variegated ‘Tineke’, ‘Decora’ with glossy dark-green foliage and a pale midrib, and ‘Abidjan’ with dark-green foliage and bronze undersides. This is a sample, not a complete cultivar list.
Compare visible shape, pattern and size
How the varieties differ
The visible choice is foliage: ‘Tineke’ is variegated with dark green and cream, ‘Robusta’ is dark glossy green, ‘Decora’ has a pale midrib and reddish undersides, and ‘Abidjan’ has bronze undersides with dark red midribs.
Change care only for a named difference
Care differences
RHS gives the named forms a shared bright filtered or indirect-light, moderate-watering, and monthly high-nitrogen growth baseline. Variegated ‘Tineke’ needs adequate brightness to maintain its pattern. No form receives a proven separate watering, fertilizer, or humidity threshold.
Treat an unverified identity as uncertain
Limits of plant labels
Sources
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Plants of the World OnlineTaxonomy; accepted name
- Royal Horticultural SocietyIntroducing ornamental figs; rubber plant; named forms
- Royal Horticultural SocietyDescription; position; cultivation; foliage
- Royal Horticultural SocietyDescription; position; cultivation; foliage
- Royal Horticultural SocietyDescription; position; cultivation; foliage
- Royal Horticultural SocietyDescription; synonyms; cultivation; foliage