Ray, a Zamioculcas Raven, is another distant cousin to Zam and Zendaya, our family of ZZ plants. Whilst the rest of the family has been around for a while now, Ray is one of the new kids on the block arriving in 2017.
 
Unsurprisingly black plants are notoriously hard to breed, but it’s worth the extra work – new leaves are bright lime green, which gradually fade to pure black. Believe it or not, they have ball-shaped masses under the soil called rhizomes that can store water – kind of like a camel's hump! The ways it’s adapted to those conditions are the reason it’s such an excellent, easy going houseplant.
 
Due to Ray's characteristics, his roots grow in such a way that they can cause disfigurement to the nursery pot. This is caused by Ray's rhizomes, in English meaning ball-shaped growths that hold water. This is completely normal, and Ray thrives when his roots are tightly packed. An example of Ray's pot can be found in the images above, this is for illustrative purposes only, and pots will differ from plant to plant.