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A pineapple is a plant in the bromeliad family, and it is one of the few plants of its kind to bear edible fruit. Pineapples are hard and prickly on the outside, with green, leafy stems growing from their tops. The sweet, edible flesh of the pineapple is found inside the outer casing. Pineapples contain many nutrients, including manganese, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and other antioxidants.

Important ornamentals (called bromeliads) as well as sources of food and medicines, Bromeliaceae have substantial economic value and are widely cultivated. The colors of the leaves offer decorative foliage, and the flowers are of astonishing hues due to the rich content of pigment-forming substances known as anthocyanins. Based on ovary position, habit, and floral and pollen morphology, the family Bromeliaceae has been split into three subfamilies: subfamily Pitcairnioideae, subfamily Tillandsioideae, and subfamily Bromelioideae. There are fifty-six genera and approximately twenty-six hundred species, growing mostly in the neotropical regions of the world, from Virginia to southern Argentina. One species, Pitcairnia feliciana, originated in Africa. This interesting family can nevertheless occupy a variety of ecologically diverse environments, ranging from the dry deserts in Peru to the highest montane forest in the Andes Mountains.