Golden Spike

This modest-sized leaf succulent grows up to 28 feet (8.5 meters) tall. The very narrow, elongated stem is silver, and is covered in lots of rigid gold spines. The thick leaves are found in dark grey, copper and slate varieties. Large amounts of them grow on wide, yellow branches that are very short and slender. The leaves are hardy, but take little effort to detach.

It is slow growing, taking 5 years to reach maturity. Once mature, several flowers with solid magenta petals decorated with purple dots and a grey central disk grow at the top, reappearing every year. The flower head is an uncoordinated mess of up to 10 curved petals. It has a soft scent that smells like damp.

The leaf succulent's skin is thick, the magenta flesh is rubbery, and the white sap is thin.