Missouri Botanical 
Garden Bulletin 
Vol. Il St. Louis, Mo., August, 1914 No. 8 
COLLECTION OF BROMELIADS 
The Garden collection of bromeliads includes about 450 
species which, although they vary considerably in growth 
and appearance, are chiefly short-stemmed plants with rigid 
spiny leaves and showy flowers. They are for the most part 
native of the American continent and adjacent islands. 
In nature, the majority of these plants grow epiphytically 
upon trunks or branches of trees, a habit which is well 
illustrated in the northwest corner of the bromeliad house, 
where a small tree trunk is bearing several specimens. Other 
members of the family are planted in pots or baskets con- 
taining equal parts of peat and fern roots. An abundance 
of moisture is an important factor in the successful raising 
of these plants, many of which are of economic value, both 
for the fibre and edible fruits produced. Perhaps the most 
important of those used for fruits is the fons (Ananas 
satwus). From the center of the rosette of long, strap-shaped 
leaves is produced the flower spike which terminates in the 
whorl of small bluish flowers. The thickened head, after 
the flowers are fertilized, finally develops into the well- 
known fruit. The accompanying plate, from a photograph 
of a pineapple in the bromeliad Lae shows well the way 
in which the pineapple fruit originates. 
Near this fruiting specimen in the same house, is a varie- 
gated pineapple which is of interest because of its value as 
an ornamental foliage plant. The cultivation of the pine- 
apple for commercial purposes has extended of late years 
to the West Indies, tropical America, the Azores, and even 
Australia, and canned pineapple are now oe in large 
uantities from Singapore, the Bahamas, Fiji, and Natal. 
ide from those wn in Florida, practically all the 
ies pa cimodned ti this country are raised in green- 
ouses and because of the superiority of the fruit when 
allowed to ripen on the plant, as pide with those 
picked for shipping, the possibility of es lishing a paying 
industry in the growing of pineapples under glass 1s very 
good. For such purposes a low built house should be 
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