TIL Pineapples don't grow on trees

I don't know about you, but up until today i had always thought and assumed that pineapples grew on trees similar to coconuts or bananas. I was completely and genuinely suprised when i learned that a pineapple actually is the fruit of a bushy and low to the ground plant. The pineapple plant  can reach heights of 2 meters and widths of approximately one meter long. I was also extremely surprised to discover that only one pineapple is produced per plant, which instantly made me think of just how much land it would take to cultivate compared to a fruit that sprouts from a tree. 

In the picture above you can see rows and rows of Pineapple plants, which are harvested by cutting the fruit from the base of the plant. Pineapple plants take from between one and three years to reach their full maturity depending on climate.  Before the Pineapple plant begins to flower and produce what becomes the pineapple, it is typically very prickly and jagged. 

The extremely long growing cycle and land required to produce just a single pineapple can be seen as a legitimate justification for their comparatively expensive price tag. Learning about this today was probably the most interesting fact that I have learned all week. 

I hope that you found this interesting and learned somethin g you didn't know yesterday. Thanks for reading!