What part of the plant is the pineapple?

Pineapples start as a cluster of purple flowers that fuse together to develop into fruit. As compound fruits, pineapples are formed from several individual fruitlets that merge around a single core, giving them their distinct pinecone shape.

Pineapples are cultivated in Florida, Hawaii and South America. The fruit grows on a central stalk surrounded by sword-shaped leaves pointing outward. Stalks are commonly between two and four feet and produce a single fruit after blossoming as a flower for one day. Pineapple fruit takes 12 to 20 months to ripen for harvesting, and leaf cuttings from the stalk or the top of the fruit are often used to produce new plants.