It looks like a spear, not a plant. :) This one has me stumped without the leaves. Do you have any photos of the leaves or a blossom in an earlier stage of the plant?

Take a closer (much closer) photo of this part

@User Post a close up photo of that section. The leaves look small and shriveled.

Down at the base of the plant, are there additional roots coming from the stem into the soil? Some tall Aeoniums will sink those additional roots in as anchors for a tall stem.

Here are some additional pics. Hope they help. Yes there are some additional roots at the base of the plant also took pic of the rosette which came out last year from the base of the plant. I’ve potted it separately.

Here is a closeup of the leaves

As you know your Aeonium is on its last leg, so don’t hold your breath. But this is what I would do.

I would cut it right around where I put the yellow line or wherever fresher stem starts, not where it’s super woody. You’ll get better results with more green and less woody stem with Aeonium.

I would keep the stem fairly short because you don‘t want any energy going to keeping the tall stem alive. All energy should go into making pups. There does look like there is a little life left in your Aeonium, not much, but it def isn‘t dead yet🙂.

Then you could also turn the top into a cutting, but cut the flowers off.

I know you have flowers, but I have zero clue if your Aeonium can self pollinate. Imho I wouldn’t worry about getting seeds.

I‘ve done this with my Mangave ‘Blood Spot’ and it worked. It threw out a terminal spike and I chopped it pretty late in the game, but there was enough life in the plant, and it give me pups.

I’m pretty certain that big piece you will cut off won’t root or do anything, but you could plant it and see what happens.

Keep all cuttings out of direct sun, only dappled light. It’s starting to get pretty warm now and those poor cuttings will fry.

If you have this scenario happen again cut the flower ASAP, and the Aeonium should give you tons of pups.

Goodluck🤞.

Thanks for the comments.

If I just cut the flower off right now would it generate pups?

The stem is pretty uniform all the way to the top. And it seems fresh not really old. The only green stem is towards the top where the rosette starts

Took a closer look at the stem and it doesn’t look super woody like you said. I would cut where I said above. I wouldn’t keep the stem too tall, for the reason already stated. The stem does look healthy and I wouldn’t be surprised if you did start to see little rosettes along the stem.

http://deviantdeziner.blogspot.com/2010/05/seven-foot-eight-inch-tall-aeonium.html

looks like a version of this to me??? he says it is aeonium giant cyclops ???? what a strange plant... thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing the article. Mine's all green - definitely not Cyclops

@AL 9b San Jose CA I believe what you have is Aeonium undulatum aka "Stalked Aeonium". I have one of these as well, and it has gotten huge relative to the small pot it is in. This is an online photo, and I can take a photo of mine if you want to see it.

I was reading about it a couple of weeks ago and I thought mine was Aeonium Undulatum, but the article said that it grows to about 3-4 ft max and has very large rosettes. If mine is an Aeonium Undulatum its an unusually tall one. The article also said that most of the rosettes/pups come out from the bottom of the plant rather than the exposed stem.

Now I really want to know what this plant is. I think my children would love to grow this odd plant.

is it Aeonium arboreum? This article says that they are sold as many hybrids so you may never know the exact type. Hers is a purple variety but leaves are green when warm. Only turn purple in cold.

https://www.joyusgarden.com/aeonium-arboreum-care/

Having no experience with these, I'd say enjoy the flower show then try what Rina suggested. With it being outdoors, perhaps you will even get seeds from the bees and other pollinators doing their thing.

@AL 9b San Jose CA Based on the leaf pattern I am sticking with Aeonium undulatum, but it is possible that this was crossed with something else that gave it the longer stem.

All, if this is indeed Undulatum then the according to the information I read, rosettes might not come out of the side of the stem. It’ll probably come out from the bottom of the plant.

@AL 9b San Jose CA Here is a photo of the base of my undulatum. It would be good to inspect the root system of your plant at the base.

The root system is good. There are prop roots emerging from the bottom part of the plant. They seem healthy. Pls see pic.

@AL 9b San Jose CA How can a plant as tall as yours be supporting itself without sinking in large roots from the base? That's something very unusual. The plant should have fallen over.

The plant is supported by a pvc plastic post

I noticed many bees on the flowers they are still in bloom and the stem still looks fresh. I’m thinking that I might get seeds so I’m leaving it for a bit longer. Once the blooms are done I’ll cut the flower off also cut the stem half way as per Kara’s advise, and make a cutting from it. I’ve also covered the bottom of the plant with more cactus mix so the roots that are sticking out from the bottom part of the stem find their way into the soil. I’ll keep everyone posted. I’ll post more pics soon.

Patience paid off!!

Congratulations on the new additions to the family :) I have several plants that grow from offsets, and usually I get a 50% success rate in a situation like that.

Fantastic! This will be looking like a very interesting little tree soon.

Yes, most definitely.

They 'sprout' very easy...here are few more sticks that were cut up into few shorter pieces from the long stems. They are all growing offsets now. Sitting just in a clear plastic cup; no soil, no water...

Sticks that were pottted - I posted photo abt. 8mo ago - grew into full plants...

This Aeonium is over 6 fr tall and I was hoping it would sprout on the top so it would stay the same height, which it did.

I keep my short since I am in cold Canada & plants have to be indoors abt. 6mo...I would keep mine taller too if it was warm enough (probably not as tall as 6' with most of the stem naked - but that is personal preferance & nothing wrong with that!); & I wanted few more plants too. I was just showing it to illustrate how easy it grows...

BTW, aeoniums have quite shallow roots. They grow many aerial roots & most of these grow into the soil to anchor the plant (all would if you let them!)...I cut some of them off & leave few. They find their way into the soil/potting mix. I tried "roots over the rock" on one of them (vaguely similar to Seki-joju bonsai style, lol):

That's a great way to enjoy that beautiful rock, Rina!