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Blazing Sunflower

Succulent type: Caudiciform (Stores water in the thickened base of its stem)

This small caudiciform grows up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall. The spear shaped stem is orange, and is covered in handfuls of fine, blood red, hair-like spines. It has a crooked, stumpy, orange trunk atop a stumpy clump of cracked, exposed roots. The branches are round and yellow-green and are short stubs.

The smooth-edged, 7 pointed leaves are aquamarine at the bottom and grey with blood red splotches at the top. They are robust, but detach easily.

It is quick growing, taking 3 months to reach maturity. Once mature, and only under the right conditions, a handful of flowers, with petals that are either sky blue or orange, with a yellow center, grow at the top, reappearing after 2 years, but only when the conditions are right again. The flower head is shaped like a tube made up of many tightly layered, round-tipped petals. It has a strong scent that smells like varnish.

The caudiciform's skin is thin, the bronze flesh is rough, and the drab orange sap is thin.

It is suitable for making strong rope
It has impressive regenerative properties.
All parts of the flower are edible.
It is bio-luminescent.