The pineapple plant produces large fruit and has a stalk that grows under the ground. This stalk pushes out a tuft of fleshy leaves which are up to a metre long and are prickly at the edges. From the centre of this crown of leaves there grows a stem which also has leaves growing on it. At the top of the stem there is a cluster like flower of bluish blossoms. When these flowers have bloomed the stem underneath then swells and produces the fruit. Pineapples can weigh up to 4 kilograms. The top of the fruit has a tuft of leaves known as the crown. if the pineapple is placed in the ground in warm, moist conditions, the tuft of leaves will produce a new plant. This is one of the methods to produce a new plant. Ananas (pineapple) a genus of five or six species of rosette forming, spiny perennials found in a range of habitats in S America. Unlike most bromeliads, which grow epiphytically, members of this genus are terrestrial. The pineapple was cultivated by native S Americans long before European explorers reached the new world.

Pineapples were given to Columbus by Guadeloupe islanders on 4 November 1493. Plants were taken to Madagascar in 1548, and to India in 1590, and then to all parts of the tropics. The fruit became so popular that, on large estates during Victorian times, sunken "pine pits", filled with decaying manure, were constructed for their cultivation to ensure year-round production for the table.

The main medicinal constituent of pineapple is bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down protein, thus aiding digestion. Bromelain is also strongly anti-bacterial; research shows that it controls digestive infections in intensively reared livestock.

Cultivation: Well drained, humus-rich sandy soil. in sun and high humidity.

Propagation: By basal offsets in early summer, or by cutting off leafy tops and inserting into a mixture of damp peat substitute and either sand or perlite.

Properties: An acidic, cooling, soothing herb that improves digestion, has diuretic, laxative, and anthelmintic effects, and acts as a uterine tonic.

Medicinal uses: Internally, especially in Ayurvedic medicine, for dyspepsia, flatulence, poor digestion, excessive stomach acid (juice of unripe fruit), menstrual problems (juice of unripe fruit), constipation, and internal parasites (juice of foliage). Bromelain aids digestion (especially proteins) and controls E. coli and other digestive problems. Juice of unripe fruit and foliage is not to be taken by pregnant women because it stimulates the uterus and may cause miscarriage.