Family: Bromeliaceae
Pineapple, Pina
Origin: Brazil and Paraguay
King of fruits! One of the most delicious fruits in the world, especially when picked and eaten fresh. Short, stiff herbaceous plant close related to bromeliads. Leaves long, thin, in rosettes, with spiny tips and usually prickly edges. Violet or reddish flower on a dense head especially from Jan. to March in Florida. Compound fruit, fleshy, usually yellow to orange when ripe. Rough outer skin. Plants are damaged at 32 F, killed at about 25 F without protection. Heavy mulching reduces weeds, staking may be necessary. Eaten fresh in pies, preserves, wine, etc. Season: Heaviest fruiting in Summer (May to September). Some staggered throughout the year.
Popular varieties: Royal Hawaiian, Victoria Gourmet, Hawaiian Gold, Sugar Loaf, Miniature dwarf. Some ornamental varieties, including Variegated pineapple “Ivory Coast” are very valuable landscape plants that require very little care and create exotic tropical look. Pineapples can be grown and harvested in pots. Be careful with watering, keep in mind that like any bromeliad, Pineapple needs very little water and needs the soil to get dry between waterings. Use only acidic soil.