Zamioculcas
| Zamioculcas | |
|---|---|
| A cultivated specimen | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Alismatales |
| Family: | Araceae |
| Subfamily: | Zamioculcadoideae |
| Genus: | Zamioculcas Schott |
| Species: | Z. zamiifolia |
| Binomial name | |
| Zamioculcas zamiifolia (Lodd.) Engl. | |
Zamioculcas is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, containing the single species Zamioculcas zamiifolia. It is a tropical herbaceous perennial plant, and is native to eastern Africa, including Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Its common names include Zanzibar gem, ZZ plant, Zuzu plant, aroid palm, eternity plant and emerald palm. It is commonly grown as a houseplant, mainly because it has attractive glossy foliage and is easy to care for. Zamioculcas zamiifolia is winter-hardy in USDA Zones 9 and 10.
Dutch nurseries began wide-scale commercial propagation of the plant around 1996. It was first described in 1829 by Loddiges, who named it Caladium zamiifolium; Heinrich Wilhelm Schott later reassigned it to the genus Zamioculcas, and Adolf Engler renamed it Zamioculcas zamiifolia.