This genus of South African plants was named after Adam Zaluziansky von Zaluzian, who came from Bohemia, and was the first person to suggest that Botany should be regarded as distinct from Medicine as a subject of scientific study. The plants are of borderline hardiness in the UK (it is the combination of cold and wet that is bad for them), and so are best grown in pots, and their strong evening scent can be appreciated in a cold greenhouse. They have white flowers, dark red on the reverse, with long tubes, which is consistent with them being pollinated by moths.

Zaluzianskya ovata has maroon buds during the day, but with a white rim to each petal visible. When they open In the evening they show five white, heart-shaped petals. It is easy to grow under cover, and under such conditions it is quite hardy, tolerating temperatures well below freezing.