What fruit is a cylinder of berries?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
April 18, 2002
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Suggested Reading—>Click here.
The current world production of pineapples (Ananas comosus (L.) Merrill) is around 4 billion kilograms per year. Almost all pineapples are canned or made into juice; the stems are used for the extraction of bromelain for the medical industry. Less than eight percent are consumed fresh.
The pineapple inflorescence is a raceme of single flowers arranged tightly along the stem. It is an aggregate fruit consisting of fleshy berries fused together, one berry from each flower. The fibrous core of the pineapple is the stem. It passes through the cylinder of fused berries to produce a whorl of leaves (crown) above the fruit.
Pineapple flowers are parthenocarpic, they do not need pollination to develop the fleshy berries. Most pineapples are self-incompatible; they will not develop viable seeds unless the pollen comes from another pineapple plant. Commercial pineapples are usually tetraploid (four sets of chromosomes) which results in larger fruit.
In their native habitat of South America, diploid (two sets of chromosomes) pineapples frequently contain viable seed. These fruits have been cross-pollinated by hummingbirds.
The pineapple is poisonous until it ripens, severely irritating to the mouth and throat. This adaptation prevented the fruit from being consumed until the seeds were ready. Although, modern pineapples seldom produce seed, the old adaptation for protecting the seed still lingers.
TROPICOS of the Missouri Botanical Garden has six photographs of Ananas comosus. To view the photos, click on the link:
http://mobot.mobot.org/cgi-bin/search_vast?imagx=04300877
Click on the listing in the menu and hit the SUBMIT button. Use your browser's Back button to return to the menu.
Series: | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 |
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
Who introduced this African berry to the Americas? Plants that Changed History - January 27, 2004
What is a wheat berry? Weird Plants - October 9, 2003
What are crane berries? Weird Plants - November 21, 2002
What is odd about strawberry seeds? Weird Plants - August 1, 2002
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