Zamioculcas zamiifolia, shortened to ZZ for the plant trade, is a member of the family Araceae. This makes it a relative of some plants you’ve probably heard of, like the peace lily (not a lily).
And the giant corpse flower.
The ZZ plant rarely flowers indoors, but you can see the resemblance in its flowers to the two plants in the pictures above.

ZZ flowers are small and grow close to the ground, but still retain the that central spadix that makes a member of the Araceae family (also called arums) so easy to spot. Plants in this family are generally pollinated by beetles or flies, and don’t have flowers that smell particularly great. Some, like the peace lily, don’t smell much at all, but several smell like rotten meat, like the corpse flower above.
Zamioculcas zamiifolia is a particularly ancient species of arum that may have evolved as early as 42 million years ago. According to the fossil record it remains practically unchanged today.
Among the arums, ZZ is unique in that in the wild it is deciduous. It is native to the eastern regions of Africa, particularly Zanzibar and Tanzania. It grows in tropical forests, savannas, or in stoney ground. During dry seasons the plant will drop all of its leaves and go through a period of dormancy. This is possible due to the plant’s bulbous rhizomes. Rhizomes are essentially stems that grow underground and are a common way for plants to spread. As the rhizomes grow along under the earth, new shoots grow from them and sprout above ground. Here’s a picture of one of the main rhizomes of my ZZ.
What’s even more interesting, is that the leaves that ZZ drops can also readily become new plants thanks to tubercles on their petioles. A petiole is the spot where the leaf stem meets the main stem or branch of a plant. Technically the entire shoot coming out of the ground on a ZZ is the leaf and what comes off of it is a leaflet. ZZ’s have what is called a pinnately compound leaf.
No other arum can reproduce this way, so it’s pretty cool. On the flip side, this natural behavior can mean that the plant is often mistreated as a houseplant. It is sold a plant that doesn’t need much water and can in fact go months without it. While this is true, most houseplant owners won’t be very happy when their ZZ starts dropping all of its leaves due to the drought its being made to go through. So while the plant can live for a period of time without water, if you want it to continue having leaves, regular watering is preferred. Just make sure it’s never sitting in water.
There were rumors at one point that Zamioculcas zamiifolia was so toxic that just touching the pot it was in was enough to send someone to the hospital. This is not true. All arums contain calcium oxalates and these can be problematic, but they aren’t always. Many foods we eat regularly, like spinach, beets, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, corn, and more contain calcium oxalates, obviously are perfectly fine to eat. Plants in the family Araceae will cause irritation of the mouth and tongue and in some cases cause the throat to swell. Generally this is not fatal, just very unpleasant. They also tend to taste bad.
There are exceptions, the arum Alocasia escualenta, is eaten regularly in many places around the world, including Hawaii. The arum dieffenbachia, also called dumb cane because eating it can leave you unable to speak, is eaten in places like Ecuador. So how does this work? All plants in the family Araceae contain calcium oxalates, which are essentially small crystals, but they come in different shapes, some are needle-like, others are rounded. The needle like oxalates are the ones that cause irritation, the others you can eat. So how do people eat arums like dieffenbachia that are known for causing irreparable damage to the mouth and throat? They cook them. The science isn’t clear on how cooking makes these arums edible, but it does seem to work.
All that to say, eating a ZZ won’t kill you, but it won’t taste good and it won’t feel good.
My ZZ is a Raven variety. It’s kind of fun in that new leaves unfurl in neon green and then gradually turn black.