25 Amazing Plants Starting with Z

The final letter of the alphabet definitely makes the start of far fewer words than others, but there are still plenty of fun plants starting with Z.

Here are 25 interesting plants starting with “Z” for you to discover. Make sure you also check out our list of 25 Unique Flowers That Start With Z!

Plants Starting with Z – Quick Look

  1. Zamia
  2. Zinnia
  3. Zebra Plant
  4. ZZ Plant
  5. Zostera Marina
  6. Zingiber Mioga
  7. Zea Mays Indentata
  8. Zebrawood
  9. Zigadenus Elegans
  10. Ziziphus Lotus
  11. Zoysia Matrella
  12. Zygocactus Truncatus
  13. Zoysia Tenuifolia
  14. Zigzag Goldenrod
  15. Zebra Orchid
  16. Zea Mays Amylacea
  17. Zauschneria Orange Carpet
  18. Zannichellia Palustris
  19. Zanthoxylum Fraxineum
  20. Zoysia Japonica
  21. Zantedeschia Aethiopica
  22. Zenobia
  23. Zephyr Lily
  24. Zygopetalum
  25. Zabel's Cherry Laurel

1. Zamia

Zamia

  • Common Name(s): Zamia
  • Scientific Name: Zamia
  • Native to: North America, West Indies, Central America, and South America

This plant is a great garden choice in warm, humid climates. It produces large foliage that forms in dense clumps, adding leafy beauty to any garden.

2. Zinnia

Zinnia

  • Common Name(s): Zinnia
  • Scientific Name: Zinnia
  • Native to: North and Central America

This plant has been sent into space! As part of an experiment aboard the International Space Station, zinnias were shown to grow and blossom in a weightless environment.

3. Zebra Plant

Zebra Plant

  • Common Name(s): Zebra Plant
  • Scientific Name: Alacosia Zebrina
  • Native to: The islands of Luzon, Mindanao, Leyte, Samar, Biliran, and Alabat in the Philippines

The zebra plant is an extremely common houseplant worldwide. However, it is struggling in the wild and is technically endangered, making it an imprisonable offense to harvest wild specimens.

4. ZZ Plant

ZZ Plant

  • Common Name(s): Zebra Plant, Zanzibar gem, Zuzu plant, Aroid palm, Eternity plant
  • Scientific Name: Zamioculcas
  • Native to: Eastern Africa

This plant combines vibrant, glossy foliage with easy care, meaning it is frequently used as an ornamental potted plant.

5. Zostera Marina

Zostera Marina

  • Common Name(s): Eelgrass, Seawrack
  • Scientific Name: Zostera Marina
  • Native to: North America and Eurasia

This marine plant loves cool and calm ocean waters. It helps collect debris around the coast to build up sea beds.

6. Zingiber Mioga

Zingiber Mioga

  • Common Name(s): Myoga ginger, Japanese ginger
  • Scientific Name: Zingiber mioga
  • Native to: Japan, China, and Korea

The flower buds of this plant are finely shredded to use as a tasty garnish for meals such as miso soup and roasted eggplant.

7. Zea Mays Indentata

Zea Mays Indentata

  • Common Name(s): Dent corn, Grain corn
  • Scientific Name: Zea Mays Indentata
  • Native to: United States

This variety of corn can be recognized by the dent in each kernel. It was specifically developed by Illinois farmer John Reid and most of today's hybrid corn varieties are derived from it.

8. Zebrawood

Zebrawood

  • Common Name(s): Zebrawood, Glassywood
  • Scientific Name: Astronium graveolens
  • Native to: Central and South America

The term zebrawood was applied to the timber of this tree because after it is cut and exposed to air stripes of the wood darken while the rest remains light.

The term now applies to the lumber of a few different trees with this quality.

9. Zigadenus Elegans

Zigadenus Elegans

  • Common Name(s): Mountain deathcamas, Elegant camas, Alkali grass
  • Scientific Name: Zigadenus elegans
  • Native to: North America

This plant is not a grass, despite a grass-like appearance. It has lily-like flowers that are beautiful.

However, the plant needs caution as it is extremely poisonous.

10. Ziziphus Lotus

Ziziphus Lotus

  • Common Name(s): Ziziphus lotus, Jujube
  • Scientific Name: Ziziphus lotus
  • Native to: The Mediterranean region

This tree is believed to be the lotus tree mentioned in Greek mythology. In Homer’s Odyssey, it bears a fruit that causes peaceful drowsiness.

11. Zoysia Matrella

Zoysia Matrella

  • Common Name(s): Manila grass, Korean grass, Manila templegrass, Siglap grass, Temple grass, Mascarene grass, Harishiba, Hierba Manila, Japanese carpet
  • Scientific Name: Zoysia matrella
  • Native to: Temperate coastal southeastern Asia and northern Australasia

This is an ornamental grass that’s commonly found as the grass used for turf in golf courses across Asia, Europe, and the United States.

12. Zygocactus Truncatus

Zygocactus Truncatus

  • Common Name(s): Christmas cactus, Thanksgiving cactus, Crab's claw cactus
  • Scientific Name: Zygocactus Truncatus
  • Native to: Brazil

These cacti were cultivated for their colorful flowers long ago and traditionally sold in Europe leading up to Christmas.

In the United States, they have shifted to being sold in the run-up to Thanksgiving Day.

13. Zoysia Tenuifolia

Zoysia Tenuifolia

  • Common Name(s): Mascarene grass
  • Scientific Name: Zoysia Tenuifolia
  • Native to: Mascerene islands

Although this plant can be a handsome lawn grass, it isn’t commonly used as it grows incredibly slowly.

14. Zigzag Goldenrod

Zigzag Goldenrod

  • Common Name(s): Zigzag goldenrod, Broadleaved goldenrod
  • Scientific Name: Solidago flexicaulis
  • Native to: Eastern and Central North America

This plant gets its name from the wiry stem that changes direction at each node and bears small, bright yellow flowers.

15. Zebra Orchid

Zebra Orchid

  • Common Name(s): Zebra orchid
  • Scientific Name: Caladenia cairnsiana
  • Native to: Western Australia

In the southwest of Western Australia, this orchid is common to find. It can be distinguished by the bright red stripe down the petals.

16. Zea Mays Amylacea

Zea Mays Amylacea

  • Common Name(s): Flour corn
  • Scientific Name: Zea Mays Amylacea
  • Native to: Mexico

This staple food is primarily used to make corn flour. It has many ritual uses too, and has been found in Aztec graves.

17. Zauschneria Orange Carpet

Zauschneria Orange Carpet

  • Common Name(s): Zauschneria Orange Carpet, California fuschia
  • Scientific Name: Epilobium canum
  • Native to: Western North America

This plant is most commonly found in California on dry slopes. In late summer and fall, it grows striking red-orange flowers that cover the ground.

18. Zannichellia Palustris

Zannichellia Palustris

  • Common Name(s): Horned pondweed
  • Scientific Name: Zannichellia Palustris
  • Native to: United States, Europe, Asia, Australasia, and South America

This plant is long and stringy with tendril-like roots. The seeds are horned-shaped, giving the plant its common name.

It prefers brackish waters, meaning water that is saltier than fresh water but not as salty as seawater.

19. Zanthoxylum Fraxineum

Zanthoxylum Fraxineum

  • Common Name(s): Common prickly-ash, Common pricklyash, Common prickly ash, Northern prickly-ash, Toothache tree, Yellow wood, Suterberry
  • Scientific Name: Zanthoxylum Fraxineum
  • Native to: Eastern and central North America

The wood of this tree isn’t valuable, but the oil extracted from it has many uses in herbal medicine. Modern studies have discovered antifungal and cytotoxic properties in the plant.

20. Zoysia Japonica

Zoysia Japonica

  • Common Name(s): Korean lawngrass, Zoysia grass, Japanese lawngrass
  • Scientific Name: Zoysia Japonica
  • Native to: Southeast Asia and Indonesia

This is the most widely used species of turfgrass used in the United States, serving as a cheaper alternative to bermudagrass.

21. Zantedeschia Aethiopica

Zantedeschia Aethiopica

  • Common Name(s): Calla lily, Arum lily
  • Scientific Name: Zantedeschia Aethiopica
  • Native to: Southern Africa

This plant grows widely in Saint Helena and is the national flower of the island nation. The flower is also used as a symbol of remembrance for combatants who dies in the 1916 Easter Rising and is known as the Easter lily there.

22. Zenobia

Zenobia

  • Common Name(s): Honeycup
  • Scientific Name: Zenobia
  • Native to: North America

This is a waxy small shrub that grows small little bell-shaped flowers all over. The flower shape and beautiful fragrance give the plant the common name of honeycup.

23. Zephyr Lily

Zephyr Lily

  • Common Name(s): Zephyr Lily, Fairy lily, Rainflower, Magic lily, Atamasco lily, Rain lily
  • Scientific Name: Zephyranthes
  • Native to: The Western Hemisphere

Most parts of this plant are considered toxic, but it has been used in traditional medicine nonetheless.

In Peru, it was used to treat tumors, in China against breast cancer, and in Africa, it’s used for diabetes.

24. Zygopetalum

Zygopetalum

  • Common Name(s): Zygopetalum
  • Scientific Name: Zygopetalum
  • Native to: South America

These flowers are most commonly found natively growing in Brazil. However, they are easy to cultivate and very popular to grow for the cut flower trade.

25. Zabel's Cherry Laurel

Zabel's Cherry Laurel

  • Common Name(s): Zabel's Cherry Laurel, English laurel
  • Scientific Name: Prunus laurocerasus ‘Zabeliana'
  • Native to: Southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia

This is a popular garden plant for its dark glossy evergreen foliage covered with small white fragrant flowers.