Pineapple
The indigenous people were already cultivating pineapples when Europeans came to South America.
Columbus tasted pineapple on his second journy to America and brought the fruit to Europe in 1493. It was highly prized, and in the 18th century pineapples were grown in greenhouses in Europe, among others at Rosenborg Castle in Denmark.
Have you ever wondered why a pineapple has such a distinctive pattern on its surface?
That’s because a pineapple is not a single fruit, but a multiple fruit. It develops from a flower spike in which many small flowers grow closely together. Each flower forms a berry, and as the fruit ripens, these berries fuse into one structure. Each of the small surface segments you see represents one of these berries.
Many people think the pineapple is a palm – but it’s not! The pineapple is a herbaceous perennial plant that typically grows to a height of 1 to 1.5 meters, and it belongs to a completely different family, the bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae).
Fact box:
- Greenhouse location: Tropical house
- Danish name: Ananas
- Latin name: Ananas comosus
- Family: Ananasfamilien / Bromeliaceae
- Natural habitat: Brazil