Megaskepasma is a monotypic genus of plants containing the single species Megaskepasma erythrochlamys, known by the common name Brazilian red-cloak. It is native to Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

 and elsewhere in South America, a free branching, upright showy tropical shrub to 3 m high, with appressed reddish hairs; stout stems with broad ovate leaves 12-30 cm long, dark green with pink midrib. It is grown as an ornamental shrub

Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...

 in climates from warm temperate to tropical, for its inflorescence, large erect heads of conspicuous crimson bract

Bract

In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...

s and two-lipped white flowers. This plant prefers a rich soil and is propagated from seed or cuttings.

Sources

• Ellison, Don (1999) Cultivated Plants of the World. London: New Holland (1st ed.: Brisbane: Flora Publications International, 1995)
• Graf, Alfred Byrd
  Alfred Byrd Graf
  Alfred Byrd Graf was a German-American botanist who traveled the world in search of obscure plant species, discovering more than 100 previously undocumented varieties...
  
  (1986) Tropica: color cyclopedia of exotic plants and trees for warm-region horticulture--in cool climate the summer garden or sheltered indoors; 3rd ed. East Rutherford, N.J.: Roehrs Co