Zamioculcas

The genus Zamioculcas derives its name from the similarity of its foliage to that of the cycad genus Zamia and its kinship to the Araceae genus Colocasia, whose name comes from the word “{{transliteration|mis|culcas}}” or “{{transliteration|mis|colcas}}” (from an ancient Middle Eastern name),{{cite web|url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=107697|title=Colocasia|website=Flora of North America|access-date=August 4, 2018}} qolqas in Arabic ({{langx|arz|زمياكولكاس}}, {{IPA|arz|ʔolˈʔæːs|IPA}}).{{cite web|url=http://egyptian-cuisine-recipes.com/vegetables/colcasia-%D9%82%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B3.html|title=Colcasia زمياكولكاس|work=egyptian-cuisine-recipes.com|access-date=August 4, 2018}}. Botanical synonyms include Caladium zamiaefolium, Zamioculcas loddigesii and Z. lanceolata.

The species name zamiifolia means "leaves like Zamia" and is formed from the botanical name Zamia and the Latin word folium, "leaf."{{Cite web |title=Zamioculcas zamiifolia (Aroid Palm, Emerald Palm, Eternity Plant, Zanzibar Gem, Zuzu Plant, ZZ Plant) {{!}} North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox |url=https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/zamioculcas-zamiifolia/ |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=plants.ces.ncsu.edu}}

File:Raven ZZ Zamioculcas Dowon 1.jpg

File:Zamioculcas zamiifolia Chameleon 1.jpg

• Zamioculcas zamiifolia 'HANSOTI13,' commercially known as 'Zenzi'{{cite web |title=Zamioculcas zamiifolia Zenzi ('Hansoti 13'PBR) |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/365733/i-zamioculcas-zamiifolia-i-font-face-times-new-roman-zenzi-font-hansoti-12-sup-(pbr)-sup/details |website=www.rhs.org.uk |access-date=21 December 2022}}
• Zamioculcas zamiifolia 'Dowon,' commercially known as 'Raven',{{cite web |title=Zamioculcas plant named 'Dowon' |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US20180084697P1/en?q=dowon+zamioculcas&oq=dowon+zamioculcas |website=www.patents.google.com |access-date=21 December 2022}}{{cite web |title=Raven® ZZ Plant |url=https://www.costafarms.com/plants/raven-zz-plant |website=www.costafarms.com |access-date=21 December 2022}}{{cite web |title=Zamioculcas zamiifolia 'Dowon' |url=https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/zamioculcas-zamiifolia-dowon/ |website=www.plants.ces.ncsu.edu |access-date=21 December 2022 |archive-date=11 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230911202713/https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/zamioculcas-zamiifolia-dowon/ |url-status=dead }} is licensed by [https://costafarms.com/products/raven-zz Costa Farms].
• Zamioculcas zamiifolia 'Super Nova'{{Cite web|title=Zamioculcas zamiifolia 'Super Nova' {{!}} /RHS Gardening|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/370656/Zamioculcas-zamiifolia-Super-Nova/Details|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.rhs.org.uk|language=en-gb}}
• Zamioculcas zamiifolia ‘Chameleon’{{Cite patent|number=USPP32253P3|title=Zamioculcas zamiifolia plant named 'Chameleon'|gdate=2020-09-29|invent1=Rimland|inventor1-first=Michael Kerry|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/USPP32253P3/en?q=(zamioculcas)&oq=zamioculcas}}

It is an herbaceous perennial growing to {{convert|45–60|cm|in|0}} 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 most visible "branches" are actually smooth, shiny, dark green, pinnately compound leaves. These are {{convert|40–60|cm|in|abbr=on}} long, with swollen, succulent petioles and 6–8 pairs of leaflets, each {{convert|7–15|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} long. Zamioculcas zamiifolia grows slowly, reaching heights and widths ranging from {{convert|2|to|4|feet}}.

The flowers are produced in a small, bright yellow to brown or bronze spadix {{convert|5–7|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} long and wrapped in a yellow-green spathe; the whole inflorescence is partly hidden among the branch bases. Flowering is from midsummer to early autumn.

Zamioculcas zamiifolia contains 91% water in the leaves, and 95% water in the petioles. It has an individual leaf longevity of at least six months, which may be the reason it can survive extremely well under interior low light levels for four months without water.

Image:Zamioculcas zamiifolia bluete1.jpg

It may survive outdoors as long as the temperature does not fall below around {{cvt|15|C|F|round=5}}; though best growth is between {{cvt|18|and|26|C|F}}, while high temperatures give an increase in leaf production. In temperate regions, it is grown as a houseplant. Overwatering may destroy this plant through tuber rot. Bright, indirect light is best; some sun will be tolerated.{{cite journal|last1=Chen|first1=Jianjun|last2=Henny|first2=Richard|title=ZZ: A Unique Tropical Ornamental Foliage Plant|journal=HortTechnology|date=September 2003|volume=13|issue=3|pages=458–462|url=http://horttech.ashspublications.org/content/13/3/458.full.pdf+html|access-date=14 March 2016|doi=10.21273/horttech.13.3.0458|doi-access=free}}

Zamioculcas zamiifolia may be propagated by leaf cuttings: typically, the lower ends of detached leaves are inserted into a moist, gritty growing medium, and the pot is enclosed in a polythene bag. Though the leaves may well decay, succulent bulb-like structures should form in the bag, and these may be potted up to produce new plants. The process may take upwards of one year. The plant can also be propagated by division.

Due to its strong green leaves, it is especially suitable for open, bright rooms.L'Ami des Jardins (ed.): Climatic plants in the house: Healthy living with detoxifying houseplants . Bassermann Verlag, Munich 2012, {{ISBN|978-3-641-67900-2}} , p. 20 When grown indoors, the plant prefers bright indirect light but will tolerate low light conditions. However, lower light is not optimal for an extended period of time. Insufficient amounts of sunlight can result in leaves lengthening and/or falling off, yellowing (chlorosis), and generally uneven or disproportionate growth as the plant stretches towards a light source. When grown outdoors, Zamioculcas zamiifolia prefers part shade to full shade.

The substrate used must be well-drained and contain nutrients. It can be composed of a mixture of tanned ox manure, washed river sand and red earth (1:1:1).{{Cite web |last=Machado |first=Suzana |date=2022-09-25 |title=Zamioculca: 5 dicas para cuidar da "planta da fortuna". |url=https://enfeitedecora.com.br/jardinagem/internas/zamioculca/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |language=pt-BR}} For indoor plants, use a well-drained potting soil mix.

Zamioculcas zamiifolia roots are rhizomatous and have the ability to store moisture, thus aiding the plants in their drought resistance. The plants like regular waterings, but the soil should be allowed to dry out between waterings.

Though little information is available, Z. zamiifolia is apparently used medicinally in the Mulanje District of Malawi and in the East Usambara mountains of Tanzania where juice from the leaves is used to treat earache.{{cite book|last1=Beentje|first1=Henk|title=Flora of Tropical East Africa - Araceae (1985)|date=1985|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9061913225|page=15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3pqD-8DUk_YC&q=S.J.+Mayo,+Flora+of+Tropical+East+Africa,+Araceae,+A.+A.+Balkema,+Rotterdam/Boston,+1985.&pg=PP1}}

In Tanzania, a poultice of bruised plant material from Z. zamiifolia is used as a treatment for the inflammatory condition known as "mshipa".{{cite book|last1=Watt|first1=J.M.|last2=Breyer-Brandwijk|first2=M.G.|title=The Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern and Eastern Africa, Being and Account of Their Medicinal and Other Uses, Chemical Composition, Pharmacological Effects and Toxicology in Man and Animal|date=1962|publisher=E. & S. Livingstone Ltd}}

Roots from Z. zamiifolia are used as a local application to treat ulceration by the Sukuma people in north-western Tanzania.{{cite journal|last1=P.R.O.|first1=Bally|title=Native Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of East Africa|journal=Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information|volume=1937|issue=1|pages=10–26|date=26 October 1937|doi=10.2307/4107637 |jstor=4107637}}

Zamioculcas zamiifolia contains acylated C-glycosylflavone apigenin 6-C-(6″-O-(3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaroyl)- β-glucopyranoside).

A 2014 study from the Department of Plant and Environmental Science at the University of Copenhagen shows that, in a laboratory setting, the plant is able to remove volatile organic compounds in this order of effectiveness: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene at a molar flux of around 0.01 mol/(m² day). The same study stated that any effectiveness on indoor environments is inconclusive.{{cite journal|last1=Dela Cruz|first1=Majbrit|last2=Christensen|first2=Jan H.|last3=Thomsen|first3=Jane Dyrhauge|last4=Müller|first4=Renate|title=Can ornamental potted plants remove volatile organic compounds from indoor air? — areview|journal=Environmental Science and Pollution Research|volume=21|issue=24|pages=13909–13928|date=19 June 2014|doi=10.1007/s11356-014-3240-x|url=https://greenplantsforgreenbuildings.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Dela-Cruz-2014-review-on-phytoremediation-with-indoor-plants-2.pdf|access-date=14 March 2016|pmid=25056742|s2cid=207272189}}

Zamioculcas zamiifolia is part of the family Araceae, which includes many poisonous genera, such as Philodendron, Monstera, Anthurium, Dieffenbachia, Aglaonema and Spathiphyllum, all of which contain insoluble calcium oxalate.

An initial toxicological experiment, conducted by the University of Bergen in 2015, on extracts from Z. zamiifolia (using brine shrimp as a lethality assay), did not indicate lethality to the shrimp, even at concentrations of extracts up to 1 mg/mL. The scientists conducting the experiment observed that, "…On the contrary, it could appear as though the extract contributed to improvements in the vitality of the larvae".{{cite journal|last1=Moullec|first1=Angharad|title=First identification of natural products from the African medicinal plant Zamioculcas zamiifolia — A drought resistant survivor through millions of years|journal=Fitoterapia|date=October 2015|volume= 106|pages=280–285|doi=10.1016/j.fitote.2015.09.011|pmid=26385196|hdl=1956/17550|hdl-access=free}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons-inline|Zamioculcas zamiifolia|Zamioculcas}}
• {{Wikispecies inline|Zamioculcas}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q15312475}}

Category:Monotypic Araceae genera

Category:House plants

Category:Succulent plants

Category:Araceae

Category:Low light plants