This species is characterized by its medium-sized, elliptic to elliptic-oblong, papery leaves, shortly tubular stipules with developed aristas, terminal, peduculate, fasciculate inflorescences with 4-9 faciculate, pedicellate flowers, short dentate calyx limbs, slender blue corollas with the tube 5-7.5 mm long and narrow lobes 9-14 mm long, and oblate fruits 6-7 x 8-10 mm. The secondary leaf veins are not well marked, and loop widely to form a submarginal vein. The flowers are borne on lax pedicels 4-10 mm long, which bear a single flower or occasionally are branched (Vásquez & Jaramillo 7866). The flowers of an inflorescence seem to open generally simultaneously, in contrast to many Rubiaceae in which the plant produces one or a few flowers at a time over a period of weeks. The fruits are laterally flattened and smooth, and become black at maturity. This species is commonly collected, especially in Ecuador and Peru.
The flower group of Faramea quinqueflora is subtended at the top of the peduncle by a pair of bracts, which are narrow in Amazonian plants and variously narrow to foliaceous in plants from Pacific South America and Panama. The form with foliaceous bracts was described as Faramea woodsonii. These foliaceous bracts are not markedly enlarged as in some other Faramea species, and represent the only difference found to separate these plants from the Amazonian plants. This feature varies in several other Faramea species and is not consistent along the Pacific coast, with enlarged bracts found in some plants from Ecuador and small bracts in some plants from Colombia, so these plants are included here in Faramea quinqueflora.
Faramea quinqueflora is similar to Faramea liesneri of Panama, which has thicker-textured leaves with the secondary veins impressed and strongly marked and more numerous flowers. As noted by Lorence et al. (2012: 92), Faramea liesneri may be a well marked form of Faramea quinqueflora but it seems distinct morphologically and geographically. Faramea quinqueflora is also similar to Faramea uniflora of South America, with solitary subsessile flowers.
Faramea quinqueflora has been confused with Faramea salicifolia, which is from Rio de Janairo and has short but branched inflorescences with the flowers closely grouped on short axes or pedicels. This may be in part because the type collection of Faramea quinqueflora was a mixed collection, and some specimens have plants of both Faramea quinqueflora and Faramea multiflora (e.g., P). The protologue figure of Faramea quinqueflora clearly shows the plants included by recent authors under this name (e.g., Taylor, 1999), but the photo distributed by the Field Museum type negative project as the type of this name is a detail photo of the P sheet showing only the stem of Faramea multiflora.