Talk:Pineapple

Seeds

the pineapple is not really a fruit, it is a flower and as such does not have any seeds.

You need to read the articles on flowers and fruits. To say it is a flower is to mean we eat the petals, etc. However, I suspect your concept comes from the fact that the majority of the flesh we eat actually develops from non-flower parts that support the flowers and developing fruit; so it is called an accessory fruit. In the somewhat similar case of the artichoke, the part eaten is the base of the structure that holds the flowers—harvested before the flowers even develop (in bud), so the artichoke is not a fruit - Marshman 17:11, 21 Oct 2004 (UTC)

The crown of the pineapple is the beginning of the next plant, which is inhibited during commercial growth.

The crown is one method of vegetative reproduction (see discussion at top of page about "seeds") - Marshman

Nathan (pineapple importer)

The pineapple is a multiple fruit, botanically a syncarp. Indeed, each pineapple "eye" is a fruit. Pineapple flowers are fused at their base, around a same axis. Imagine this is the same as a corn (maize) ear, where all the grains would be partly fused, and fused with the central axis. The bracts (foliar structures) subtending each individual flower are also fused to some extent, only the upper part remaining free (taking the appearance of a scale in the mature pineapple). After anthesis (opening of the individual flowers), each flower develops parthenocarpically into a berry (which means that this development does not depend on the formation of a botanical seed in the ovary), with the growth of all flower parts, excepting petals, style and anthers, which dry and fall, and including bracts. These fleshy berries and the fibrous axis constitute the pineapple.

The crown of the pineapple is present at anthesis, however it resumes growth when the whole pineapple matures. In some varieties, it can reach appreciable proportions, so, to avoid shipping and selling all this green mass, the crown is manually "reduced" by cutting its growth axis with a cutting tool. On the contrary, when the pineapple is cultivated for the canning industry, the crown is left undamaged, so it can provide an excellent planting material for the next planting cycle. Geo

I believe that in commercial production that new plants are grown from suckers since they are clones of the parent. Fruit crowns are not, and are hit-and-miss in terms of viability. Second-generation fruit are a good bit smaller, if they occur at all, and are used for canning.

Date of introduction to Europe

The recent discovery of a painting in Pompeii which appears to show an early form of the pizza also shows fruit, two of which look like pineapples. I would therefore question the validity of the date proposed for its introduction to Europe. 2A00:23C5:D003:C01:40A3:3D2F:1285:90D (talk) 17:24, 27 June 2023 (UTC)

No while the particular mural seems to have only received attention recently, the general issue has been discussed many times before, see [1] [2] Nil Einne (talk) 14:59, 17 September 2023 (UTC)

I've seen silly theories, but this one takes the cake. Viriditas (talk) 22:37, 13 April 2024 (UTC)

First successful culivation in Europe

it was not successfully cultivated in Europe until Pieter de la Court developed greenhouse horticulture near Leiden from about 1658

Weird, because I just spent two hours reviewing multiple books on the subject, none of which say that. Viriditas (talk) 22:09, 13 April 2024 (UTC)

I think I'm starting to see the problem. Pieter de la Court wasn't born until 1664. He published the Byzondere Aaemerkingen in 1737. This article needs serious work. Viriditas (talk) 22:27, 13 April 2024 (UTC)

Fixed. The article had the wrong person with the same name linked and the wrong date. Viriditas (talk) 23:16, 13 April 2024 (UTC)

Here is a clarifying footnote that explains the problem in detail (from A Cultural History of Plants in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Vol. 4, 2022):

It has also been proposed that the first pineapple in Europe was cultivated at Meerburg in the 1650s by Pieter de la Court (1618–85), father of the younger Pieter de la Court discussed below in relation to hothouses. Modern historians treat this as a "legend" as there is no evidence that this was the case. It may be that there was some confusion over the pursuits of the two de la Courts, with the son’s interests more squarely focused on gardening. See Weststeijn (2012: 284)

I hope that clears things up. Viriditas (talk) 19:55, 30 April 2024 (UTC)

Part of the confusion is the fact that Pieter de la Court kept his use of tanner's bark secret for years in the late 1600s, I believe, publishing his ideas much later in the late 1730s. Although I'm still trying to trace the connections, it looks like he shared this technique somehow, and word spread among botanists and gardeners in the intervening time period. Viriditas (talk) 20:42, 30 April 2024 (UTC)

In the wild, what creatures eat pineapples?

Most fruits evolved to be eaten by some creatures to help propagation. But there is no information in this article about evolution or symbiotic relationships. FreeFlow99 (talk) 06:03, 23 July 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 25 July 2024

I've just had an epiphany that pineapple is in fact a vegetable because it's lacking a seed an by my undisputed logic an evidence I deem this to be true so I would be much appreciated if you would do me the courtesy of stop misleading the masses Sincerely Sardar 90.255.70.146 (talk) 09:26, 25 July 2024 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. I just had an epiphany that your edit request should be declined.^{[just kidding]} You need reliable sources, and your 'undisputed logic' is original research. '''[[User:CanonNi]]''' (talk • contribs) 09:46, 25 July 2024 (UTC)