Plant · P-512

Pineapple

Ananas comosus

Pineapple is a compact rosette plant, not a tree, that grows three to four feet across and produces one sweet-tart fruit before dying back to the pups at its base that carry the planting on. The fruit is eaten fresh, cooked or preserved, and its enzyme-rich juice can irritate skin and throat if handled carelessly. It needs frost-free warmth and takes nearly two to three years from planting to first harvest, so it only completes a crop cycle outdoors in the tropics - though its small size makes it one of the few tropical fruits practical to grow in a container and move under cover for winter. Its stiff leaves also yield a fine silky fiber that can be spun into cloth and cordage.