Ananas
Pineapple bracteatus var tricolor
Pineapple is a genus of flowering plants of the family Bromeliaceae ( Bromeliaceae ). The most familiar type is the pineapple, an important fruit plant. Other types and varieties are cultivated as ornamentals because of their decorative leaves and fruits.
Description
The pineapple species are ground-dwelling ( terrestrial ), perennial, herbaceous plants. The shoot axis is compressed, thus the plant is stemless until only a short stem -forming, and the leaves are in dense rosettes that reach a diameter of up to 2 meters. The stout, recurved leaves are up to 80 cm long, they have little Saugschuppen (see other bromeliads genera ). The leaf sheaths are hardly increased. The leaf blade is serrated on the edge thorny.
The short to elongated, mostly upright inflorescence stem is covered with spiny bracts. The eared inflorescence is globose to peg- shaped. At the top of the inflorescence is a tuft of sterile, foliage leaf -like bracts. The radial symmetry, hermaphrodite, threefold flowers. The three sepals are free. Each of the three free petals carries in two funnel-shaped, delicate scales ( Lupe! ) and are blue, purple or white. Three carpels are fused into one inferior ovary.
The berries, flowers and bracts of the inflorescence grow into a fleshy fruit stand. The small ( 2-3 mm ) thick, egg-shaped seeds are brown to black and have no appendages. Pineapple culture do not form seeds ( kenokarp = leerfrüchtig ). The reproduce vegetatively via Kindel or rooting of leaf tufts.
Occurrence
The genus is native to South America. The nature pineapple is cultivated in almost all tropical areas of the world.
Etymology
The name pineapple comes from the Guaraní Anana, nana, nanas with the meaning of pineapple. The first written record comes from André Thevenet in 1555.
In Austria and southern Germany are or were especially great fruity cultivated varieties of strawberries # cultural history strawberry also known as " Pineapple ", to distinguish them from the wild strawberry, while the right pineapple is referred to in the course of a Hawaiian pineapple.
Species
Most of the species in eight types are distinguished:
- Pineapple ananassoides ( Baker) L.B.Sm.
- Pineapple bracteatus ( Lindl. ) Schult. & Schult. f Pineapple bracteatus var bracteatus
- Pineapple bracteatus var tricolor ( Bertoni ) L.B.Sm.
- Ananas comosus var comosus
- Ananas comosus var variegatus ( E.Lowe ) Moldenke: A form of culture, has the green and yellow-white striped leaves ( see picture).
- Ananas nanus ( LBSm. ) LBSm. Kleine, wenigblütige type, with growth heights of up to 20 cm.
- Pineapple parguazensis Camargo & L.B.Sm.
However, there is no crossing barriers between species, also can not be assigned to all individuals of a species. Several studies have suggested the types merge in a way that Ananas comosus and lead only as varieties. The neighboring genus, Pseudananas sagenarius, hereafter would be the second pineapple kind.