Which plant species produces the pineapple, the tropical fruit with a crown of leaves?

The pineapple is produced by the plant species Ananas comosus.

Ananas comosus is a bromeliad native to South America and is now cultivated throughout tropical and subtropical regions. Its fruit is not a single simple berry. It develops from the fusion of many individual flowers and their associated tissues, creating a multiple fruit called a syncarp.

The familiar leafy crown can sometimes be planted to grow a new pineapple plant. Commercial production usually uses vegetative propagation, including crowns, slips, and suckers, so cultivated plants are genetically similar to the parent plant.

Pineapples were encountered by European explorers in the Caribbean during the late fifteenth century and later became a luxury symbol in Europe. The plant is unrelated to pine trees; the English name refers to the fruit’s resemblance to a pinecone and its sweet flavor.