Where Does Pineapple Grow? A Detailed Guide to Its Latest Growing Environment

Pineapples are now coming onto the market in large quantities. Looking at those golden pineapples, have you ever wondered where pineapples actually grow? In our daily lives, pineapples are a fruit we could not be more familiar with, yet when someone suddenly asks where pineapples grow, very few people actually know the answer. Many people think pineapples grow on trees, but in fact the pineapple is a herbaceous plant that grows on the ground.

The pineapple is called "wang li" or "wang lai" in Minnan dialect, "wang li" or "wang lai" in the Minnan region, "feng li" in Taiwan, China, "huang li" in Singapore and Malaysia, and "boluo" in mainland China and Hong Kong, China. The pineapple is a tropical fruit native to the Amazon River basin region of Brazil and Paraguay in South America. It was introduced to China from Brazil in the 16th century. There are more than 70 varieties, and it is one of the four famous fruits of Lingnan. It has now spread throughout the entire tropical region.

The pineapple has a short stem and numerous leaves arranged in a rosette, sword-shaped, 40-90 cm long and 4-7 cm wide, with tapering tips, entire margins or sharp teeth, green on the upper surface and powdery green on the underside, often with a brownish-red tinge along the edges and tips. The leaves at the top of the inflorescence are smaller and often red. The inflorescence emerges from the center of the leaf rosette, shaped like a pine cone, 6-8 cm long, enlarging when fruiting; the bracts are green at the base and pale red on the upper half, triangular-ovate; the sepals are broadly ovate, fleshy, with red tips, about 1 cm long; the petals are oblong-elliptic, pointed at the tip, about 2 cm long, purple-red on the upper part and white on the lower part. The multiple fruit is fleshy and more than 15 cm long. The flowering period is from summer to winter.

Pineapples are widely distributed between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, and are one of the world's important fruits. They originated in Central and South America, were introduced to China in the 16th century, and were already being cultivated by the 17th century. Today, more than 80 countries and regions around the world cultivate them commercially, with the main producing areas concentrated in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, South Africa and the United States. China is one of the top ten pineapple-producing countries, with production mainly distributed in the tropical provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi and Yunnan.