Copper Pinwheel Identification Guide
Recognize Copper Pinwheel (Aeonium 'Sunburst') by its large flat rosettes of cream-and-green variegated leaves edged in coppery pink.
Read the full Copper Pinwheel encyclopedia entry →
Key Identifying Features
Copper Pinwheel is the common name for Aeonium 'Sunburst' (often listed as Aeonium davidbramwellii 'Sunburst'), a boldly variegated branching aeonium. Look for:
- Large, flat pinwheel rosettes up to 6-12 in (15-30 cm) across.
- Variegated leaves striped pale yellow/cream and green, with coppery-pink to rose margins in sun.
- Rosettes held on stout woody stems.
Leaves & Stems
Leaves are spoon-shaped (spatulate), smooth, and thin, arranged in a wide flat disc. Each leaf shows a central green-to-blue-green band flanked by cream or pale yellow stripes, and the edges flush a warm copper, coral, or pink in bright light and cool weather — this coppery rim gives the plant its name. Leaf margins carry tiny soft cilia (hairs).
The stems are woody and pale brown, ringed with old leaf scars, and branch to form a small multi-headed plant 1-2 ft (30-60 cm) tall.
Flowers & Fruit
Mature rosettes occasionally produce a cone-shaped cluster of small white-to-pale-yellow star flowers. As with all aeoniums, the flowering rosette is monocarpic and dies after blooming, while side branches continue.
How to Tell It Apart from Look-Alikes
- Aeonium 'Kiwi' (Dream Color): smaller rosettes with yellow centers and red edges; 'Sunburst' is much larger with cream-and-green stripes and copper edges.
- Plain green Tree Aeonium: lacks the cream variegation entirely.
- Agave/variegated agave: has rigid, fibrous, spine-tipped leaves; Copper Pinwheel leaves are soft and fleshy.
- Variegated Echeveria: thick leaves in a tight low rosette, not flat thin leaves on a woody stem.
Where You'll Find It
A showcase plant in Mediterranean, coastal, and container gardens in USDA zones 9-11, and a popular houseplant. Like other aeoniums it grows in cool, moist seasons and rests in hot, dry summers. Because it is variegated, it scorches more easily than green aeoniums and prefers bright but slightly filtered light.
Quick ID Checklist
- Large flat rosette of thin spoon-shaped leaves
- Cream/yellow and green stripes down each leaf
- Coppery-pink margins in sun
- Woody branching stems with leaf scars
- Flowering rosette dies after blooming (monocarpic)
Frequently asked questions
Is Copper Pinwheel the same as Aeonium 'Sunburst'?
Yes. 'Copper Pinwheel' is a common name for the variegated cultivar Aeonium 'Sunburst', named for the copper-pink edges its leaves develop in sun.
Why are the leaf edges sometimes pink and sometimes not?
The coppery-pink blush intensifies in bright light and cool temperatures. In shade or warm shade the leaves stay more cream and green.
Can it revert to plain green?
Variegated plants can occasionally throw an all-green or all-cream rosette. Remove off-type growth to keep the striped pinwheel look.
Does it die after flowering?
Only the rosette that flowers dies. Branched plants keep going from their remaining heads, so the plant as a whole survives.