Description

The rose of Venezuela is a small, slow growing tree with stout branches eventually reaching about . 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 uniform shade of green. The globular

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s contain numerous crimson, red, deep pink or purple tubular flowers, each with projecting stamens and style. The flower heads can be up to in diameter and usually dangle below the foliage. The seeds are contained in bunches of long, brown, furry pods.

Distribution

The rose of Venezuela is native to Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Colombia where it grows in the

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

. It has a minimum temperature requirement of and will thrive both in full sun and in partial shade.

Ecology

The rose of Venezuela flourishes in areas of forest that are seasonally inundated and is often associated with '' Virola duckei'' and '' Inga thibaudiana''. Many

epiphytic An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

plants and

liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a ta ...

s grow among the branches. The flowers of the rose of Venezuela produce copious amounts of

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

and are attractive to

humming bird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

s and

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

. At night it has been observed that the leaves rise and expose the flowers to the dew, sinking down again in the morning to protect the flowers from the sun.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4747795 grandiceps Flora of Brazil Flora of western South America Flora of Venezuela