The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical
plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant
plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South
America, where it has been cultivated for many centuries. The introduction of the pineapple to Europe in the 17th century made it a significant cultural icon of luxury. Since the 1820s, pineapple has been commercially grown in greenhouses and many tropical plantations.
Pineapples grow as a small shrub; the individual flowers of the unpollinated plant
fuse to form a multiple fruit. The plant is normally propagated from the offset produced at the
top of the fruit, or from a side shoot, and typically mature within a year.
The pineapple is a herbaceous perennial, which grows to 1.0 to 1.5 m (3 ft 3 in to 4 ft
11 in) tall, although sometimes it can be taller. The plant has a
short, stocky stem with tough, waxy leaves. When creating its fruit, it usually produces up to 200 flowers, although some large-fruited cultivars can exceed this. Once it flowers, the individual fruits of the flowers join together to create a multiple fruit. After the first fruit is produced, side shoots (called 'suckers' by commercial growers) are produced in the
leaf axils of the main stem. These suckers
may be removed for propagation, or left to produce additional fruits on the original plant.