1161

 Ananas comosus (L.)Merr.

Synonym	:	Ananas acostae C. Commelijn
Family	:	BROMELIACEAE
Local name	:	ENGLISH- Pineapple MALAYALAM - Kaithachakka
Flowering and fruiting period	:	Throughout the year
Distribution	:	Tropical America, widely cultivated in the Paleotropics
Distribution in kerala	:	All Districts
Habitat	:	Cultivated
Uses	:	Edible purpose
Key Botanical Characters.. Short-stemmed shrubs. Leaves radical, clustered, spirally arranged rosettes, 45-110 x 3.2-5.8 cm, 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 1.5-3.3 x 0.8-1.5 cm, 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 formed by the coalescence of thickened rachis, bracts and ovaries, 12-18 x 8-12 cm.  .