The rose of Venezuela is a small, slow growing tree with stout branches eventually reaching about 6 metres (20 ft). The trunk has greyish-brown, lightly furrowed bark. The shoots and leaf stalks are downy. The leaves are opposite, elongated and pinnate with twelve to eighteen pairs of oblong or lanceolate leaflets ending in a bristle-like point. When they first unfold, the drooping leaves are pale green with tiny pink and cream dots, but as they mature they become brownish-pink and eventually a