A red Ananas comosus fruit with a leafy crown rises among cream-striped serrated leaves

Ananas comosus (Pineapple)

Name: ananas comosus
Address: CO

Native from Costa Rica through tropical South America to northeastern Argentina, this perennial herb grows as a ground-level rosette. Its pineapple is a multiple fruit formed by many flowers and their surrounding tissues joining together. Cultivated varieties usually develop fruit without seeds. The leafy crown and side shoots can grow into new plants, while a retained sucker can produce a second crop. Fresh fruit contains bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down proteins and can prevent gelatin from setting; cooking deactivates it. Ornamental forms have smaller fruits and colorful foliage. It has naturalized in coastal Queensland, Australia. Photographed in Colombia.

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A bright red Ananas comosus fruit carries a tall leafy crown against a dark background

A pale yellow Ananas comosus fruit grows below a spreading crown beside another flowering stalk

Purple Ananas comosus flowers emerge between sharply pointed red bracts

Pointed pink Ananas comosus bracts surround a compact developing flower head

A pale Ananas comosus fruit sits beneath a large spreading leafy crown

A small pink Ananas comosus flower head rises on a pale stalk among narrow leaves

Purple Ananas comosus blossoms open along a pink flower head with serrated bracts

A pale yellow Ananas comosus fruit and a flowering stalk grow among reddish serrated leaves

White-based purple Ananas comosus flowers project between pink bracts above reddish leaves