Raven ZZ Plant Identification Guide
Identify the Raven ZZ Plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia 'Raven'/'Dowon') by its glossy black-purple mature leaves that emerge bright green and its thick upright stems.
Read the full Raven ZZ Plant encyclopedia entry →
Key Identifying Features
The Raven ZZ (Zamioculcas zamiifolia 'Raven', trademarked from 'Dowon') is a dark cultivar of the classic ZZ plant. Its standout trait is foliage that emerges bright lime green and matures to a glossy, near-black purple, so a single plant shows both colors at once.
- New growth bright green, maturing to glossy black-purple
- Thick, upright, fleshy stems lined with paired leaflets
- Waxy, smooth, oval leaflets with a high shine
- Arching, feather-like compound leaves from the base
Leaves & Stems
What look like stems are actually whole compound leaves: a thick fleshy rachis lined with opposite pairs of smooth, oval, glossy leaflets that taper to a point. Each leaflet is firm and waxy. Emerging leaves are vivid green and darken over weeks to a deep purple-black that can look almost ink-colored in good light.
At the base, the plant grows from thick potato-like rhizomes (tubers) that store water, giving it strong drought tolerance. Stalks arch outward, creating a full, architectural clump. The contrast of bright new shoots against blackened mature foliage is the signature.
Flowers & Fruit
Flowering is rare indoors. Like the standard ZZ, it can produce a small, inconspicuous arum-type spadix flower (a short pale spadix partly wrapped in a green-bronze spathe) low among the stems, but it is grown entirely for foliage.
How to Tell It Apart from Look-Alikes
- Standard green ZZ plant: Same form but stays bright glossy green; Raven matures to black-purple while sharing the identical leaf shape and tuberous base.
- Black-leaved alocasias/colocasias: Have large single arrowhead leaves on long stalks, not many small paired leaflets along a fleshy stem.
- Other dark houseplants (black ti, black taro): Lack the ZZ's waxy paired leaflets and tuberous rhizome.
The green-to-black gradient on a typical ZZ leaf structure is conclusive.
Where You'll Find It
A trendy, low-maintenance home and office plant tolerant of low light and drought thanks to its water-storing tubers. Native (as the species) to East Africa. It darkens best in bright indirect light; too little light keeps it greener.
Quick ID Checklist
- Glossy black-purple mature leaflets, bright green new growth
- Thick fleshy stalks with paired waxy oval leaflets
- Arching, feather-like compound leaves
- Tuberous rhizomes at the base
- Same shape as a green ZZ but much darker
If you see a ZZ-shaped plant whose mature leaves are glossy near-black while new shoots are bright green, it is a Raven ZZ.
Frequently asked questions
Why are some leaves green and others black on my Raven ZZ?
New growth emerges bright lime green and gradually darkens to glossy purple-black over several weeks. A healthy Raven ZZ naturally displays both colors at the same time.
How is it different from a regular ZZ plant?
It has the identical leaf shape, fleshy stems, and tuberous base as the standard ZZ, but the 'Raven' cultivar matures to a deep black-purple instead of staying green.
Does the Raven ZZ ever flower?
Indoors it rarely flowers, but it can occasionally produce a small, inconspicuous arum-type spadix partly wrapped in a green-bronze spathe low among the stems. It is grown for its foliage, not its flowers.
Why is my Raven ZZ staying green instead of turning black?
It needs adequate bright indirect light to develop its darkest color. In low light the mature foliage tends to stay greener and the dramatic black coloring is muted.