The pineapple plant produces large fruits and has a stalk that grows under the ground. This stalk pushes out a tuft of fleshy leaves which are up to meter long and are prickly at the edges. From the center of this crown of leaves there grows a stem which also has leaves growing on it. At the top of the stem there is a cluster-like flower of bluish blossoms.

When these flowers have bloomed the stem underneath them swells and produces the fruit which is sold fresh or in tins. Pineapple fruit can weigh up to 4 kilograms.

The top of the fruit has a tuft of leaves known as a crown. If the pineapple is placed in the ground in warm, moist conditions, this tuft of leaves will produce a new plant. This is one of the most common methods used to reproduce the fruit.

It was once fashionable to grow pineapple under glass in England, but this practice has now died out. Most pineapples are grown in Thailand. They are gathered unripe and allowed to ripen on the journey to their destination.