The Tropical Look: An Encyclopedia of Dramatic Landscape Plants - Softcover

MEGASKEPASMA (meh-gas'-ke-PAZ-ma)

Acanthaceae: The Acanthus Family

BRAZILIAN RED-CLOAK

Large herbaceous shrub; immense ovate leaves; gigantic terminal red flower spikes

Zones 10b and 11 as a permanent perennial; zone 9b as a returning perennialSun to partial shade

Average but regular amounts of moisture

Average well-drained soil

Propagation by cuttings
A monotypic genus that occurs naturally in southern Venezuela.
Megaskepasma erythrochlamys
(e-rit'-ro-KLAY-mis) (synonym Adhatoda cydoniifolia) is a magnificent shrub with a grotesque botanical name. It grows to at least 6 feet in height and, without frost, often to 10 or even 12 feet. The leaves are a foot, sometimes more, long, and are elliptical to ovate in shape with a prominent and lighter colored (rarely pink) large midrib and slightly depressed lateral veins, which give somewhat of a quilted effect to the blade. The plants bloom mainly in the fall through the spring, but summer blooms are not uncommon. The erect terminal inflorescence is a foot or more tall and consists of closely packed large scarlet to purplish red bracts enclosing elongated arching two-lipped white flowers, which peek out in the same manner as those of Justicia brandegeana (shrimp plant). This shrub is breathtaking in the landscape as a tall background subject underplanted with almost anything that is not as tall; one of the most intriguing partners is the shrimp plant whose more subtle flower colors are extremely complementary with those of the red-cloak. The plant in bloom is shockingly spectacular when one first encounters it because of its unexpected size in leaf and flower cluster. This shrub has soared in popularity in the 1990s. Plate 279, above.

1999 AmericanHorticultural Society Annual Book Award Winner