I was given this plant today and am now trying to find some info about it, how to care for it, and if its poisonous to my pets and need some help identifying it. Thank you. Tamara
That is an aroid called Zamioculcas zamiifolia or zz plant. There is discussion that you treat it like a succulent or you can water it heaps. Its from Africa. Mine only gets watered when it rains, which has been a fair bit here lately (months of it!) and it is going great. It needs well drained soil and NOT full sun... Oh and if you do a search on here for "zz plant" there should be a few discussions on here. Ed
That is it!! Thank you so much, and thank you for the very quick reply. Didn't imagine a reply that soon. This is another reason why I love this website. So many people ready to answer questions, and in a flash too! Tamara
I wish I could make the search engine find ZZ plant, but never can. It just does not seem to like either ZZ or ZZ plant. But if you do a search using the scientific name you'll find many threads. I'm sure the reason so many people post questions about this species is they just can't find ZZ on the search engine. Zamioculcas zamiifolia is a very odd plant as I thought Saltcedar explained, but Ed actually did! I just edited this to be correct but you'll soon read why I did the edit! An aroid, it grows in southern Africa in climates that either have tons of rain or none at all depending on the season. As a result, the species can survive a lot of abuse. We water our specimen frequently but others only water once a month. Doesn't seem to matter with the exception you are more likely to grow an inflorescence with more water. The plant really doesn't seem to care. I posted some quotes from some botanists and curators of botanical gardens as well as very experienced growers on one of the threads. According to them you can go either way with just about the same results. The genus now has only one species which is Zamioculcas zamiifolia (Loddiges) Engl. All the other previous names for the species have been discovered to simply be variations of this one species and those names are now simply synonyms. Some variations are short, some are quite tall. One strange plant!
Well, as is only too obvious, I am getting old! My mind sees things that aren't really there. Glad you pointed it out and I just wish we could figure out why the search engine doesn't like ZZ. I sent a private note to Daniel but have no idea what may be happening as a result. It is too bad because I try to direct plant questions to UBC and firmly believe it is the best public forum on the net. There are bound to be people looking for answers on the ZZ plant but the search engine just won't find them!
Thanks for all the info. I love the plant so far. It's very unusual looking. Anyone have any idea if the ZZ plant is poisonous to pets? I need to know whether I can leave it on the floor or if I need to place it up high where our zoo of animals cannot reach it. Tamara
The generally posted information all over the web that aroids are poisonous is highly exaggerated. All aroids contain calcium oxalate crystals but so does spinach and many plant foods you eat every day. A very few aroids also have other compounds which make them closer to being poisonous, but the word "poison" is truly not applicable here. Calcium oxalate can irritate the throat and it tastes very bad in some plants. Generally, any pet that samples it won't ever try it again! But the pet would have to consume a very large plant entirely to be harmed. This link explains more about the facts of calcium oxalate crystals and includes quote from scientific sources as well as information from a practicing physician:http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Calcium oxalate crystals.html
Oh, the calcium oxalates I am not concerned with. I know they aren't a real threatening toxin. My pets don't generally bother my plants unless they have thin grass-like leaves, like my pygmy palm has. Thanks again! Tamara
Tamara you can also propagate the plant from just picking off a leaf and putting in sand, just like a succulent. It is indeed a unique aroid for that reason alone. Ed
That's awesome! Especially considering when the plant was given to me there was a piece that had been broken off. I placed the broken piece down into the soil, but now that I know it can be propogated I will go put it in sand in a few minutes and cross my fingers that it grows! Thanks again! Tamara
If the petiole is attached, remove it. The leaf can be used to start a new plant but not necessarily a piece of the petiole (stem). This is a very odd aroid that reproduces in nature by simply having a leaf drop tot he soil.
