Get To Know These 19+ Spiral Succulents

These succulents form geometrical spirals, as seen in sunflowers or pine cones. Their leaves form these cones making them quite attractive. Some of the spirals are more perfectly arranged than others. These plants are also referred to as succulents with Fibonacci spirals.  The following are some of the succulents that fall under this category.

1. Aeonium ‘Emerald Ice’

This member of the emerald family has concentric rosettes, which form spirals. The succulent has a significant number of leaves. These leaves are green, sometimes light green depending on the plant’s environment. They usually have creamy white margins. Rosettes in this species grow to a maximum of one foot in width. They prefer moist soil and a shady location.

2. Aeonium ‘Party Platter’

This succulent is a member of the Aeonium genus. It is a geometrical spiral with light green leaves with serrated edges. It has a short stem from which the leaves are issued. This plant’s leaves are naturally arranged in a mosaic. The leaves have tipped toward the tip of the plant, but older leaves on the lower part of the stem are usually rounded. This plant’s succulent leaves tend to curve downward and ultimately cover the stem making it invisible.

3. Aeonium tabuliforme

This succulent spiral species is known as tabuliforme, which means flat due to its almost perfectly flat top. This is a short plant, about five centimeters tall, but it produces wider rosettes. Their rosettes can be as comprehensive as 45 cm in diameter. They are characterized by small light green leaves that sometimes have white spots. These leaves are hairy on the margins. It produces these leaves from its short, simple stems.

4. Aeonium hybrid ‘Zwartkop’

This is one of the more prominent members of the genus Aeonium. Its mature height is between two and four feet. Its leaves are purple-black, forming spirally rosettes at the edge of the stem. They are succulents and prefer to grow in the same conditions as other Aeoniums. Enough light but no direct sunlight and sufficient moisture in the soil without waterlogging. This is a great ornamental houseplant due to its unique color, leaf shape, and arrangement.

5. Agave ‘Blue Glow’ Variegated

This is a house plant that is sometimes considered a collectible. It has blue-green rosette-forming leaves with a cream-yellow margin. The leaves are broad and lance-shaped. The rosettes they form are less compact than those made by succulents with smaller leaves. They are solitary plants that can produce a pup once in a while. They, therefore, don’t occupy any more space than you had budgeted for.

6. Agave Potatorum Variegate

This is a succulent with a compact form. Its leaves have spines on the margins. These leaves are green, but they have cream margins. The plant’s foliage, therefore, is considered to be variegated in line with the plant’s name. This plant’s leaves form rosettes around the short stem that characterizes this succulent. These rosettes form concentric rings on the stem at different levels, thus creating a spiral.

7. Agave victoriae-reginae

This spiral succulent is also known as Queen Victoria Agave or Royal Agave. Its leaves are geometrical, almost sculpted, and form rosettes right from the bottom, so it doesn’t have a stem. This spiral succulent has some considerable variance in form depending on where its habitat. However, it is relatively compact across the species. It attains a maximum mature height of 0.5 meters. Some of them are so perfectly formed as to take the shape of a queen’s crown, probably where it got its name.

8. Agave Americana

This Agave is also known as the century plant or American Aloe. It is imperative to note that this plant is not an aloe despite its common name. Its leaves can grow up to 3-5 feet in habitat and spread to ten feet. Of course, it may not reach these sizes as a house plant, especially when potted. Its leaves grow from the very bottom on a short stem. They grow in a Fibonacci spiral from the bottom to the top.   This succulent grows well in dry conditions, and you should take note of it if you decide to grow it at home because it will require comparable conditions.

9. Aloe Polyphylla

Also known as the Spiral Aloe, this is one of the best-known spiral succulents. Its rosettes form into perfect Fibonacci spirals. The spirals may be clockwise or counterclockwise. They are stemless, and their phenomenal growth is such that the complete spiral has five points. Its leaf color can range from bright, light green to darker green. Its lance-shaped leaves usually have spines on the edges typical of aloes. This succulent could be fussier, so growing it takes considerable care and skill. Also, the spiral pattern is only visible when leaves are short and broad. When perfectly formed, this succulent has an outstanding appearance.

10. Aloe brevifolia

This aloe is characterized by short leaves, which cause the plant to attain a total mature height of 10 cm. It forms spirals vertically, unlike polyphylla, whose spirals are horizontal. These leaves are thick with a triangular profile, and they have spines on the edges and along the middle on the outer side, which is usually. The foliage has a distinctive gray-blue color. This spiral succulent produces suckers on the side, producing rosettes that cause this succulent to form clusters. It may colonize space if the conditions are right.

11. Ariocarpus Fissuratus

This cactus is found in habitat in small numbers in Mexico and Texas in the United States. However, it may be grown as a house plant in many parts of the world. Ariocarpus fissures is a spiral succulent characterized by a significant taproot. It is a very slow-growing plant, and its leaves usually need to be better formed. These leaves are grey-green but acquire a yellow tint as the plant ages. They usually appear like scales on its stem. However, they grow in a vertical spiral, thus making the plant quite attractive.

This cactus is an excellent decorative plant to grow. However, it is usually so slow-growing that many people prefer to graft it to other faster-grown cacti to speed up its formation. It usually produces pink flowers at the top in its flowering season. The flowering doesn’t include a raceme as the bloom issues directly from the stem.

12. Echeveria ‘Cubic Frost’

A bluish-grey hue with a tint of pink on the edges of the leaves characterizes this stunning spiral succulent. Its leaves have an uncharacteristic shape where they bend backward lengthwise. The leaves form a rosette on the edge of the stem, and they usually grow in mild horizontal spirals. This is a short plant that rises to a maximum mature height of 20 cm, and the rosette of a mature plant can grow as big as ten inches (25 centimeters). Over and above the beautiful leaves, this plant produces fantastic orange bell-shaped flowers.  It is an easy succulent to grow.

13. Echeveria ‘Dondo’

It has grey-green leaves that are small and succulent the leaves. When well-formed, these leaves have three points; both ends and a spine in the middle. They are also pointed. Echeveria ‘dondo’ is a spiral succulent that forms rosettes from the base. Thus, it has no stem. These stems are formed in horizontal spirals. It produces flowers that grow from the inflorescence. Its flowers are pink with orange tips at the edge of the petals. Flowers accentuate the beauty of this plant in their season. However, the succulent is mainly grown for its beautiful spiraling foliage. This spiral succulent is not thorny to culture.

14. Echeveria imbricata

Also known as the blue rose due to its evergreen, blue-green leaves, this beautiful succulent is often made of near-perfect rosettes. Its leaves are mostly saucer shapes, with a tip on the edge. It is in these rosettes that the leaves form spirals. Its average mature height is usually between 4 and 8 inches and spreads to 4-6 inches wide. The succulent produces bell-shaped orange-red flowers from woody flowering stalks it forms in spring and early summer. It is pretty hardy, which makes it easy to grow in most climatic conditions, provided you avoid waterlogging. It has a clustering habit, so you can quickly get a number of them colonizing a quite attractive space if you have space.

15. Echeveria ‘Lime N’ Chile’

This is an Echeveria cultivar with unique leaf color. Its leaves are lime green which is not quite common in this genu. However, like the rest of the plants in the Echeveria family, their leaves are usually covered with farina which means the lime color will usually be seen beneath the white farina. In the abundance of the farina, the foliage may appear more lime-grey than just lime. It is a spiral succulent that forms beautiful rosettes from its fleshy, saucer-like leaves. It is drought resistant but manifests beauty more when cultivated, mainly when you water and feed it. Always ensure the succulent doesn’t experience waterlogging.

16. Epithelantha micromeris

This tiny cactus grows to a mature adult height of 1-5 centimeters and 2-4 cm in width. It has an unsegmented stem which is usually entirely covered by spines. The stem is spherical, and the stems are white-grey in color and quite dense. This spike color and density make the little plant appear entirely grey. When checked closely, you note that the spines grow perfectly spirally from top to bottom. It produces flowers in season on top of the stem. The flowers are usually pink or maroon. These succulent clusters make it even more attractive.

17. Euphorbia esculenta

Being a member of the euphorbia family means that this spiral succulent produces latex-like sap when bruised. It is characterized by a club-shaped caudex from which a rosette of branches grows in spirals. The branches are so many that it is impossible to see the caudex in which they stand. Each branch is about eight inches long, and it curves upward. Also, each inch is no more than an inch wide. The rosette formed by the branches grows to a maximum of ten inches high and sixteen inches wide. This plant produces white flowers with yellow stigmas and stamens; its branches turn pale brown as they age. It is important to note that the plant has prickly spines on the branches.

18. Lophophora williamsii

This cactus is popularly known as peyote. It contains some psychoactive alkaloids. It is a solitary, spineless cactus with a glaucous green stem. The stem may also present in a greyish-green hue. It is globular and shortened. This stem is short; it doesn’t grow beyond six centimeters tall and has a maximum diameter of 12 cm. The Peyote stem has equally sized sections whose boundaries are marked with grooves. These grooves usually form in upward spirals with some wooly projections on the stem. Euphorbia esculenta produces light pink flowers with yellow anthers.

19. Mammillaria celsiana

This succulent is characterized by glassy white or yellow spines which cover its entire stem. The stem is globose when young but becomes cylindrical as the plant matures. It is categorized under spiral succulents because the spines grow spirally on the stem. Though solitary, the plant branches severally, which may make it appear clustered. This cactus rises to a maximum of 8 inches while spreading to six inches. Its top is sunken and wooly, producing small flowers in a ring towards the top of the cactus.

20. Sempervivum arachnoideum

It is commonly known as the cobweb house leek because it has furry rosettes. The furry rosettes look like cobwebs. Long cilia occasion this furriness on the edges of the leaves. Its leaves are arranged into rosettes which spiral horizontally. The leaves start from the very bottom. It is a compact plant that only reaches three meters tall and 30cm wide. This flowering plant produces pink hermaphrodite flowers, which grow from flower stalks that appear from the main stem.

Final Thought

There are many spiral succulents across all the succulent and cacti species. They may form spirals either vertically or horizontally. The fact that a species is spiral-forming doesn’t mean these spirals will always be visible. Usually, the clarity of the spiraling leaf arrangement depends on the shape and size of the leaves, which depends on the plant’s growing conditions.