Zanzibar gem (Zamioculcas)
Description
Zamioculcas (common name "Zanzibar gem", "Zuzu plant" or emerald palm) is a genus of flowering plant in the family Araceae, containing the single species Zamioculcas zamiifolia. It is a tropical perennial plant native to eastern Africa, from Kenya south to northeastern South Africa. Dutch nurseries started wide-scale commercial propagation of the plant around 1996. It is a herbaceous plant growing to 45–60 centimetres (17.7–23.6 in) tall, from a stout underground, succulent rhizome. It is normally evergreen, but becomes deciduous during drought, surviving drought due to the large potato-like rhizome that stores water until rainfall resumes. The leaves are pinnate, 40–60 centimetres (15.7–23.6 in) long, with 6–8 pairs of leaflets 7–15 centimetres (2.8–5.9 in) long; they are smooth, shiny, and dark green. The flowers are produced in a small bright yellow to brown or bronze spadix 5–7 centimetres (2.0–2.8 in) long, partly hidden among the leaf bases; flowering is from mid summer to early autumn. Zamioculcas zamiifolia contains an unusually high water contents of leaves (91%) and petioles (95%) and has an individual leaf longevity is at least six months which may be the reason it can survive extremely well under interior low light levels for four months without water.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class:
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Order: Alismatales
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Family: Araceae
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Genus: Zamioculcas
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