I believe it is an Aeonium purpureum. Should do well if you give it lots of light and warmth. The branches that appear to be shriveling may not make it and just cut them back to viable firm branches. There is another variation, Aeonium arboreum var atropurpureum 'Schwarzkopf', but it has much darker leaves.

It should be growing now, so give it the proper soil, a few days rest in a warmish well-lit area, and some water regularly (3-5x a month, assuming it has roots), you should start seeing new heads in a week or so. If you don't want to water it, mist the stems every day until growth is evident and then start giving it sips. That should be fun to revive.

That is one awesome gift plant. I'd be delighted if I were you! :)

bikerdoc- does that mean i should essential cut back the wrinly stuff? i'm so new, i'm want to make sure i am doing the right thing before i go edward scissorhands on the poor thing.

cactusmcharris - thx, it's gotten cold the last few days so i brought it in last night.

teatree- i am totally excited, but would be much happier if it was doing better :D

I would cut back anything that is soft just to where the stems get firm. If you want to wait to see where the new growth begins, that's OK, too. Once the plant puts out new leaves, you can cut back the long stems and have lots of little plants to root up and give away. This will reduce that "leggy" look and make it more full when the new heads grow from the cut ends. Just remember to allow at least a week to 10 days for them to callus before planting. And I'd wait for some warm weather.

bikerdoc5968 - i'm going to experiment. i'll cut back half of the wrinkly legs and let the others be...let's see what happens. i'm new to gardening so this will make it a fun experience. i'll keep everyone updated on how i do :)

My prediction - any ones that need cutting will likely self-prune. That's how the plant copes. Make sure you don't get water into any cut ends. As I said, this plant, providing it has roots (and you're giving it a drink a week or so) should be growing just about any time now.

Another Aeonium now:

And in the summer:
{{gwi:524477}}

cactusmcharris - OK, I'll cut the rest of the wrinkly ones. I don't know if it has roots. It's sitting in the original nursery pot it was purchased in. The pot isn't flat anymore, it wobbles to one side. It was too heavy for me to lift to check if roots were exposed- possibly the reason it wobbles? If I repot it, am I causing more trauma?

update on this bad boy. I noticed this weekend that this poor thing was not doing so well. Some of the branches started to droop and some of the living flowers completely died and fell off. A quick touch of some branches showed that they were mushy...i moved into action and quickly got it out of the soggy soil and into new drier and better draining mixture soil. i also clipped off more of the damaged branches. Am I too late in noticing its poor condition? is it done for? is there anything i can do to revive it? nurse it back to health?

Who knows? I hope you cut off any & all traces of mush & let the remainder dry a day or 2.

I seem to have missed this thread first time round. In reading it now, I was wondering about the mix, can't see it in the pic & I didn't see anyone ask you other than CMcH, mention proper mix.

If it were mine, I'd make sure the mix was appropriate before I went any further.

These can be pretty rugged plants, you shouldn't lose hope just yet.

here are some pics of the plant now.

it's hard to see in the pic because my phone doesnt do well with closeups. you can see where it was mushy and it started to shrivel up and cut itself off from the mushiness.

pirate girl - what would be proper soil for a plant like this one?