Ficus elastica

Rgds

^Yes, aka rubber tree. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't survive a winter outdoors in Chicago.

You can cut off as much as you need so it will fit well in the house again. The removed pieces can be stuck in a pot to make new trees if you want. Rotating it every few weeks should keep it more upright, not leaning toward the light.

Ficus have latex sap inside, gives some people a rash like poison ivy. Avoiding getting that on skin would be an easy way to avoid that possibility.

Idle curiosity question...is Chicago really Zone 2b? I think it's likely to be a Zone 5a or 5b but I may be totally wrong. ;-)

houseplant.. without a doubt ... there is a houseplant forum for further info ...

it will live outdoors in z5.. until the first frost .. period ... and yes chitown is z5 for sure.. maybe 6 otherwise ...

most all houseplants can be rooted... when i had such.. that got that big.. i researched how to root a tip or two ... and once those were rooted and potted up ... i got rid of the monster .... [google: propagation of ficus elastica]

looking at your plant.. leaning at a 45 degree angle.. it tells me it is highly lacking in proper light in the house ... yet its rather lush ...

when you start your new ones... turn them once a month or so .. so the plant gets light on all sides and it will grow straighter ...

all that said... there is the other option.. get rid of it ...

ken

Everyone has ID'd it correctly. It is a tropical and would be mush after a hard frost outdoors.

I'm one of those allergic to ficus sap. It's not fun.

Actually, the city of Chicago and some adjacent areas of Cook County are 6a (warmer due to the Lake effect). The rest of the suburbs are 5b, including the Cook County suburb where I used to live. The northwest corner of the state is 5a.

Yup, the city of Chicago is zone 6a. I live about 6 miles from the lake. We have not seen the temperature drop below -12F in the 28 years. I am experimenting with plants hardy to zone 6 now. Gladiolus that were planted at least 6" deep have survived for several years.

A recent USDA zone map has officially put Chicago and pockets of NW Indiana and southern Michigan in 6a:

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Thanks all for the helps!! I live in the suburb of Chicago (40 miles to the lake) and just changed my zone to 5b in my profile. Checked the zone for rubber tree, about 10. So I'll just cut it in order to keep it indoor (and make some new rubber trees, called "root ficus elastica", I guess?) Apparently I'm not allergic to ficus sap. I didn't knew the trick to rotate it to keep it upright. Good tip!