Black Knight has glossy oval leaflets in pairs along upright stems. The older growth is very dark, close to black, with a high shine. New leaflets come through bright green and darken as they age. Each leaflet is around 5 to 8cm long and sits close in against the stem.
Growth & size
It grows from thick underground rhizomes, pushing new stems up from the base. Each stem comes up as a single spear and unrolls its leaflets as it lengthens, green at first before it darkens. Indoors it gets to around 50 to 80cm tall and widens out as more stems form. It is slow, adding a few stems a year, most of that over the New Zealand growing season from October to April.
