biomedicalephemera:Pineapple Fruit (Ananas comosus)Unlike the banana, the natural history of the pin

biomedicalephemera:Pineapple Fruit (Ananas comosus)Unlike the banana, the natural history of the pineapple is fairly unknown.The pineapple is named after its pinecone-like shape and raw texture, and its genus (Ananas) comes from the Tupi word for “excellent fruit”.When a pineapple blooms, it has a cluster (inflorescence) of small flowers. All of the flowers that are fertilized begin to develop into their own fruits, and as they grow bigger and bump into each other, they coalesce, becoming what’s known as a multiple fruit. Mulberries and breadfruit are also multiple fruits.—-When Columbus arrived in the West Indies, pineapple was already cultivated throughout the region. One of the few studies on the archaeological and anthropological finds concluded that its wild origins are in the basin of the Paraguay River. Southern Brazilian tribes were known to be some of the first to trade and cultivate this fruit, but beyond that little has been conclusively proven.Pineapples require a high average temperature to grow and fruit, and despite being brought back to Europe on Columbus’s original voyage in 1492-93, and cultivated by the Dutch in Suriname by the early 17th century, they weren’t cultivated in a temperate region until 1658.It wasn’t until the early 18th century that hothouses (also called “pineries”) were developed to cater to the desires of wealthy Europeans seeking to display the flamboyant fruit on their tables. Indeed, most people who could afford pineapples in the 1700s didn’t eat them - they were kept on the table until they began to rot.Catherine the Great, however, had no interest in rotting fruit - she had a custom-made pinery and loved the taste of pineapple, and frequently made a show of allowing her more important guests to taste the fruit, themselves!Image:Amsterdamse Hortus. Jan Moninckx, 1688.The Pineapple: King of Fruits. Francesca Beauman, 2011. -- source link

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