Zaluzianskya is a genus of flowering plants now regarded as a member of the Scrophulariaceae, the figwort family. The genus is endemic to Southern Africa and includes some described sixty species.[1]

Zaluzianskya
Zaluzianskya sp.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Tribe: Limoselleae
Genus: Zaluzianskya
F.W.Schmidt
Species

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Taxonomy

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Zaluzianskya was named in honour of Adam Zalužanský ze Zalužan, 1558–1613, a physician of Prague, author of Methodus Herbariae, 1592.[2] Zaluziansky seems to have been a deservedly prominent botanist in his day, with some views on taxonomy quite advanced for his time.[3]

Pollinators

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Superficially the shape of the flowers is strikingly phlox-like, hence the designation 'night phlox', for their evening fragrance. The fragrance after dark suggests that in nature the species in question are pollinated by moths, whereas day-pollinated species often have little or no obvious scent. Research is in progress on the ecological and evolutionary relationships between some members of the genus and specialist long-tongued pollinators, particularly night flying hawk moths (family Sphingidae) and flies in the families Nemestrinidae, Tabanidae, and Bombyliidae.[4][5][6] Day-flying hawk moths, such as the genus Macroglossum (hummingbird hawk moths) also seem to be significant pollinators of many species of Zaluzianskya.

Cultivation

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Zaluzianskya species have not been of horticultural significance until recently. Zaluzianskya rubrostellata is cultivated as an annual herbaceous ornamental plant.[7]

Species

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Species include
 
Zaluzianskya spp.


References

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  1. ^ Arnold T.H., de Wet B.C. (Eds), Plants of Southern Africa: Names & Distribution, Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa No. 62, Pub.National Botanical Institute, South Africa.1993 ISBN 1-874907-03-X
  2. ^ Chittenden, Fred J. Ed., Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening, Oxford 1951
  3. ^ Debus, Allen G., Man and nature in the Renaissance, Cambridge 1978 ISBN 0-521-29328-6
  4. ^ Picker, M., Griffiths, C., Weaving, A. Field Guide to the Insects of South Africa, Struik 2003. www.struik.co.za
  5. ^ Bruce Anderson, Steven D. Johnson, J. Kohn, The Geographical Mosaic Of Coevolution In A Plant–Pollinator Mutualism, Evolution, Jan 2008: Vol. 62, Issue 1, pgs 220-225
  6. ^ S. D. Johnson, . J. Edwards, . Carbutt and C. Potgieter. Specialization for hawkmoth and long-proboscid fly pollination in Zaluzianskya. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, Vol 138 pp 17–27 March 2002
  7. ^ Blanket Wrap:Zaluzianskya rubrostellata
  8. ^ "Zaluzianskya pumila (Benth.) Walp. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
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