Plants in the Ruschia genus are among the most striking, versatile and diverse of all succulents in the Mesembryanthemaceae family. The genus name Ruschia, was named in honour of a Namibian farmer by the name of Ernst Julius Rusch (1867-1957). The monotypic genus Ruschianthus was named to commemorate his son Ernst Franz Theodor Rusch (1897-1964). Ruschia is the largest genus in the mesemb family with about 216 species.

Ruschia macowanii, synonymously known as Mesembryanthemum macowanii and Ruschia macovanii, is a South African endemic succulent found in the Western Cape province growing in sandy areas near the coast, often on rocks. It is an open, mat-forming shrublet up to 20cm spreading to 50cm across or more, not rooting at the nodes. It has hard, fleshy leaves, 20-35mm x 4mm are joined to form a slight sleeve at the base. The flowers which are produced from winter to spring are pink, up to 22mm across, outer petals have a central dark stripe and the paler inner petals and stamens form a cone in the centre.