Zamioculcas zamiifolia

Water:

April-September: 1 x every 2 weeks*

October-March: 1x per month *

*This is only for a sunny location

Light: sunny

Nutrition: 1x per month (May-September)

The Zamioculcas zamiifolia is a beautiful succulent plant native to East Africa, including Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Here, this plant grows in tropical forests, dry grasslands, and lightly shaded rocky areas, often along riverbanks. The Zamioculcas is also known as the ZZ plant, Zanzibar Gem, or Emerald Palm.

The Zamioculcas zamiifolia has glossy dark green leathery leaves that grow on thick stems. The leaves are composed of 6 to 8 pairs of leaflets that stand upright and somewhat resemble stylized feathers. The entire compound leaf can grow to be 40 to 60 cm long. The plant grows from a large tuberous, fleshy rhizome that looks like a potato. This is a rhizome where the plant can store water and nutrients. Due to this storage capacity, the Zamioculcas can survive long periods of drought. The leaves even contain 91% water and the petioles 95% water.

The remarkable thing about the Zamioculcas zamiifolia is how easy it is to care for. The plant stores water in its roots, stems, and leaves, meaning it requires little water and can tolerate neglect well.

The Zamioculcas zamiifolia rarely flowers indoors, but can produce small flowers in nature. The flowers are yellow-green to bronze in color and are found in a small spadix 5 to 7 cm long, encased in a yellow-green spathe, growing just above the ground from the rhizome. The flowers resemble those of other arum family plants.

Available on pot