Characteristics
A pineapple like plant. It grows 1 m tall. Plants can spread by underground runners. The leaves are spiny and 0.5-1.5 m long. They are blue-grey. They are coarse and fibrous. The young central leaves turn red-violet during flowers. The flowers are violet and 2 cm across. The flower spike is 20 cm long. The fruit is composed of many fruitlets. They are not as closely fused as pineapple. The flesh is yellow and juicy.
| Life form |
perennial
|
| Growth form |
herb
|
| Growth support |
free-standing
|
| Foliage retention |
evergreen
|
| Sexuality |
hermaphrodite
|
| Pollination |
-
|
| Spread |
-
|
| Mature width (meter) |
-
|
| Mature height (meter) |
1.0
|
| Root system |
-
|
| Rooting depth (meter) |
-
|
| Root diameter (meter) |
-
|
| Flower color |
|
| Blooming months |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | | Apr | May | Jun | | Jul | Aug | Sep | | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|
| Fruit color |
-
|
| Fruiting months |
-
|
| Nitrogen fixer |
-
|
| Photosynthetic pathway |
-
|
Environment
A tropical plant. It can be grown in tropical and subtropical places. They are best in a protected site. In Colombia it is recorded in woodland between 60-1,000 m above sea level.
| Light |
|
| Soil humidity |
|
| Soil texture |
-
|
| Soil acidity |
-
|
| Soil nutriment |
-
|
| Hardiness (USDA) |
|
Usage
It is mostly used for juice. Plants vary in the sweetness of the fruit. The leaves are placed directly in the fire then the base of the leaves is eaten.
Cultivation
Plants can be grown by removal of suckers. It can also be grown by seed. Cleaned seed germinate in a few days.
| Mode |
seedlings
|
| Germination duration (days) |
-
|
| Germination temperacture (C°) |
-
|
| Germination luminosity |
-
|
| Germination treatment |
-
|
| Minimum temperature (C°) |
-
|
| Optimum temperature (C°) |
-
|
| Size |
-
|
| Vigor |
-
|
| Productivity |
-
|
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