Inventory 75, Seeds and Plants Imported 



Plate 



Fig. 



I. — Habitat of the Wild Pineapple (Ananas sp. 

 56851 and 56852) 



S. P. I. Nos. 



The origin of the cultivated pineapple is obscure. The Spaniards found it growing in the 

 gardens of the Indians when they reached tropical America at the end of the fifteenth cen- 

 tury. It seems probable that the cultivated varieties were derived from one or more of the 

 wild forms which are still found in the central part of Brazil. The environmental conditions 

 under which one of these forms occurs is shown in the above reproduction of a photograph 

 taken by Professor Rolfs near Vicosa, in the State of Minas Geraes, at an altitude of about 

 650 meters (approximately 2,130 feet) 



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Fig. 2. 



A Wild Pineapple from Central Brazil (Ananas sp. ; S. 

 Nos. 56851 and 56852) 



P. I. 



Plant breeders occupied with the production of new pineapple varieties will be interested in 

 this wild form sent from the State of Minas Geraes by Professor Rolfs. The fruits, which 

 are about 6 inches long and 4 inches in diameter, are whitish green, dull green, or nearly red; 

 they have whitish flesh of acid flavor. It seems possible that this form may be the wild 

 prototype of some of the cultivated pineapples; it occurs abundantly on the rolling plains of 

 central Brazil. (Photographed by P. H. Rolfs, Vicosa, Minas Geraes, Brazil) 



