1- Introduction to the Species Ananas comosus - Pineapple

           1.1- Scientific Classification
           Kingdom:        Plantae
           (unranked):    Angiosperms
           (unranked):    Monocots
           (unranked):    Commelinids
           Order:              Poales
           Family:            Bromeliaceae
           Subfamily:      Bromelioideae
           Genus:              Ananas
           Species:            Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.

          1.1.1- Order Poales
          + Overview
        The Poales are a large order of flowering plants in the monocotyledons, and includes families of plants such as the grasses, bromeliads, and sedges.
             The earliest fossils attributed to the Poales date to the late Cretaceous period about 66 million years ago, though some studies (e.g., Bremer, 2002) suggest the origin of the group may extend to nearly 115 million years ago, likely in South America. The earliest known fossils include pollen and fruits. The flowers are typically small, enclosed by bracts, and arranged in inflorescences (except in the genus Mayaca, with solitary terminal flowers). The flowers of many species are wind pollinated; the seeds usually contain starch.
           + Scientific classification (depending on The APG III System-2009)
            The APG III system (2009) accepts the order and places it in a clade called  commelinids, in the monocots. Sixteen plant families are currently recognized by botanists to be part of Order Poales:
              1- Family Anarthriaceae
              2- Family Bromeliaceae
              3- Family Centrolepidaceae
              4- Family Cyperaceae
              5- Family Ecdeiocoleaceae
              6- Family Eriocaulaceae
              7- Family Flagellariaceae
              8- Family Joinvilleaceae
              9- Family Juncaceae
              10- Family Mayacaceae
              11- Family Poaceae
              12- Family Rapateaceae
              13- Family Restionaceae
              14- Family Thurniaceae
              15- Family Typhaceae
              16- Family Xyridaceae

           1.1.2- Family Bromeliaceae
           + Overview
          The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of around 3,170 species native mainly to the tropical Americas, with a few species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, Pitcairnia feliciana. They are among the basal families within the Poales and are unique because they are the only family within the order that has septal nectaries and inferior ovaries. These inferior ovaries characterize the Bromelioideae, a subfamily of the Bromeliaceae. The family includes both epiphytes, such as Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides), and terrestrial species, such as the pineapple (Ananas comosus). Many bromeliads are able to store water in a structure formed by their tightly-overlapping leaf bases. However, the family is diverse enough to include the tank bromeliads, grey-leaved epiphyte Tillandsia species that gather water only from leaf structures called trichomes, and a large number of desert-dwelling succulents.
             The largest bromeliad is Puya raimondii, which reaches 3-4 m tall in vegetative growth with a flower spike 9-10 m tall, and the smallest is Spanish moss.
            + Subfamilies
                The family Bromeliaceae is organized into three subfamilies:
               Bromelioideae (32 genera, 861 species)
               Pitcairnioideae (16 genera, 1030 species)
               Tillandsioideae (9 genera, 1277 species)

            1.1.3-  Subfamily Bromelioideae
            + Overview
           Bromelioideae is a subfamily of the bromeliads (Bromeliaceae). This subfamily is the most diverse, represented by the greatest number of genera with 32, but the least number of species with 861. Most of the plants in this group are epiphytes, though some have evolved in, or will adapt to, terrestrial conditions. This subfamily features the most plant types which are commonly cultivated by people, including the pineapple.
           + Genera
               The Subfamily Bromelioideae have 32 genera:

1- Acanthostachys (2 species)
2- Aechmea (255 species)
3- Ananas (7 species)
4- Androlepis (1 species)
5- Araeococcus (9 Species)
6- Billbergia (64 species)
7- Bromelia (56 species)
8- Canistropsis (11 species)
9- Canistrum (13 species)
10- Cryptanthus (66 species)
11- Deinacanthon (1 species)

12- Disteganthus (2 species)
13- Edmundoa (3 species)
14- Eduandrea (1 Species)
15- Fascicularia (1 species)
16- Fernseea (2 species)
17- Greigia (33 species)
18- Hohenbergia (56 species)
19- Hohenbergiopsis (1 species)
20- Lymania (9 species)
21- Neoglaziovia (3 species)
22- Neoregelia (112 species)

23- Nidularium (45 Species)
24- Ochagavia (4 species)
25- Orthophytum (53 species)
26- Portea (9 species)
27-Pseudaechmea (1 species)
28- Pseudananas (1 species)
29- Quesnelia (20 species)
30- Ronnbergia (14 species)
31- Ursulaea (2 species)
32- Wittrockia (6 species)
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           1.1.4- Genus Ananas
           + Overview
          Ananas is a plant genus of the Bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae), native to South America and Central America which includes the species Ananas comosus, the pineapple.
         This genus originated in Mesoamerica and was brought to the Caribbean Islands by the Carib natives. The oldest register with the representation of the fruit seems to be included in the Cascajal Block, attributed to the Olmec civilization. In 1493, Christopher Columbus first saw plants of this genus in Guadeloupe. It was brought from Brazil to Europe by the Portuguese, and from there was distributed to the Pacific Islands by the Spanish and the English. Commercial pineapple plantations were established in Hawaii, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, Florida and Cuba. The pineapple has become one of the world's most popular fruits.The tough leaves grow in large rosettes, arising basally from a crown. These leaves are long and lanceolate with a serrate or thorny margin. The flowers, arising from the heart of the rosette, each have their own sepals. They grow into a compact head on a short, robust stalk. The sepals become fleshy and juicy and develop into the well-known complex form of the pseudocarp fruit, crowned by a rosette of leaves.
Ananas species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Batrachedra comosae, which feeds exclusively on A. comosus.The word Ananas is derived from the Guarani name for the pineapple, via Portuguese. In most languages, pineapple is called "ananas".
           + Species
               The Genus Ananas has 7 accepted species:
              1- Ananas ananassoides (Baker) L.B. Smith
              2- Ananas bracteatus (Lindley) Schultes & Schultes f.
              3- Ananas comosus (Linnaeus) Merrill - Pineapple
              4- Ananas erectifolius L.B.Sm. 
              5- Ananas lucidus (Aiton) Schult. & Schult.f 
              6- Ananas macrodontes E.Morren
              7- Ananas parguazensis Camargo & L.B. Smith 
              Only one bromeliad, the pineapple (Ananas comosus), is a commercially important food crop.

              1.1.5- Species Ananas comosus (Linnaeus) Merrill - Pineapple
              + Overview
          Ananas comosus (Linnaeus) Merrill - Pineapple- Brazil and Paraguay; naturalized in parts of Asia, Africa, Australia, Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, northern South America, and various islands in the Pacific.
               The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical plant with edible multiple fruit  consisting of coalesced berries, and the most economically significant plant in the  Bromeliaceae family. Pineapples may be cultivated from a crown cutting of the fruit, possibly flowering in 20-24 months and fruiting in the following six months. Pineapple does not ripen significantly post-harvest.
           Pineapples can be consumed fresh, cooked, juiced, and preserved, and are found in a wide array of cuisines. In addition to consumption, the pineapple leaves are used to produce the textile fiber piña in the Philippines, commonly used as the material for the men's Barong Tagalog and women's Baro't saya formal wear in the country. The fiber is also used as a component for wallpaper and other furnishings.
           + Etymology
              The word "pineapple" in English was first recorded in 1398, when it was originally used to describe the reproductive organs of conifer trees (now termed pine cones). The term "pine cone" for the reproductive organ of conifer trees was first recorded in 1694. When European explorers discovered this tropical fruit in the Americas, they called them "pineapples" (first so referenced in 1664 due to resemblance to what is now known as the pine cone).
            The pineapple is named for its resemblance to the pine cone. But native West Indians Tupian called it na-na, from which its botanical name (Ananas) comes.
               In the scientific binomial Ananas comosus, ananas, the original name of the fruit, comes from the Tupi word nanas, meaning "excellent fruit", as recorded by André Thevet in 1555, and comosus, "tufted", refers to the stem of the fruit. Other members of the Ananasgenus are often called "pine", as well, in other languages.
             + Common names
              Scientific name: Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.
              English: Pineapple. 
              Danish (Dansk): Almindelig Ananas. 
              Dutch (Nederlands): Ananas. 
              French (Français): Ananas, Pomme de Pin.
              German (Deutsch): Ananas.
              Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia): Ananas, Nanas, Nenas.
              Italian (Italiano): Ananas, Ananasso.
              Malay (Bahasa Melayu ): Nenas, Nanas.
              Polish ( Polski): Ananas Jadalny.
              Portuguese (Português): Gravatá, Abacaxi, Ananás, Ananás-selvagem, Abacaxi-do-mato.
          Spanish (Español): Ananás, Piña, Ananá, Piña Azucarada, Piña de Agua, Piña de América, Piña tropical, Piña Blanca (Colombia).
             Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt): Khóm, Thơm, Dứa.
             + Origin and Distribution
             - Origin: 
             It is a cultigen not known in the wild presumably originated from the area between Southern Brazil and Paraguay, South America.
             - Distribution:
               It is a pantropical plant widely grown for its edible fruits that has been cultivated in South America since the fifteenth century and now it is intensively cultivated in several tropical countries, such as Hawaii, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.