Dyckia 'Cherry Coke'

Cherry Coke dyckia

A small, circa six inch, Cherry Coke dyckia planted amongst coral stone and looking very much like a sea urchin of sorts at The Botanic Gardens at Kona Kai Resort in Key Largo, Florida

Dyckias are one of the most cold hardy of all bromeliads, able to take temperatures down to about 20°F. They are also very drought tolerant in their preferred high-sunlight environments, requiring only a little water here and there to thrive.

Although I could find no ways in which dyckias are used by humans besides for aesthetics, I imagine their spiny rigid leaves would make them effective tools of last resort for self-defense.