Abroma augustum or Devil’s Cotton is called kapas hantu or rami sengat in Malaysia. The name 'Abroma' comes from classical Greek meaning ‘a’ without and 'broma' is food, probably referring to the fruits or seed that are not edible. Kapas hantu is common in many parts of India, throughout SE Asia to S China, and through Indonesia to the Solomon Islands and N. Australia. In Peninsular Malaysia, it is recorded from Perak, Selangor, Kelantan and Pahang (Rafidah & Syahida-Emiza, 2013).

Kapas hantu is an erect shrub or small tree which can grow to 10 m tall. The leaves and stems are covered with soft bristly hairs that are very irritating to touch. The leaves are spirally arranged or distichous and are highly variable with two main forms, either 3–5-lobed or simple, lanceolate unlobed ones. Its flowers are bisexual. It has five spoon-shaped petals, each with a concave base. The lanceolate petals are white, dark purple, red or yellow with a ciliate margin. The fruits are obconical. The seeds are numerous, blackish, small, cylindrical to obovoid without wings or an aril.

When the stems are cut, new shoots may emerge from buds in the axils of the leaf scars at the base of the plant. In Malaysia, kapas hantu grows in lowland and hill secondary forest below 1200 m altitude, on forest edges, waste places, bordering villages and along the roads. In Peninsular Malaysia, it is often found near limestone.