Dwarf pineapple

Scientific Name :

Ananas ananassoides (Baker) L.B.Sm.

Synonym(s) :

Ananas comosus (L.) Merr. var. microstachys

Local/Common name(s) :

Dwarf pineapple

Family :

Bromeliaceae

Habit :

Herb

Flowering/Fruiting Time :

Throughout the year

Habitat :

Cultivated

Endemic :

No

Status (IUCN) :

Distribution :

Exotic: Native to Tropical America; Kerala: throughout

Nativity :

Exotic

Uses :

Ornamental

Description (Morphology) :

Short-stemmed shrubs. Leaves radical, clustered, spirally arranged rosettes, linear, canaliculate, base amplexicaul and sheathing, margins spiny-serrate, apex acute, spiny, glaucous, coriaceous. Inflorescence terminal on the leafy stem, capitate, crowned with tuft of leaves. Flowers sessile, bisexual; bracts ovate, margins spiny-serrate, apex acute, spiny, coriaceous. Calyx short. Corolla lobes free or variously connate. Stamens 6, adnate to corolla. Ovary inferior, 3-celled; ovules many per cell on axile placentae; stigmas 3. Fruit a syncarpium.