On this date in 1813 the pineapple was introduced to Hawaii.  No, it’s not a native plant.

Pineapples (Ananas comosus) are bromeliads indigenous to South America from southern Brazil to Paraguay.  Because we like their fruit they’re now cultivated across the world in such far flung places as Costa Rica, the Philippines, Thailand and India.

We also grow pineapples for their beauty.  Here’s a plant with variegated leaves in Parque Nacional del Café in Quindio, Colombia.  It’s in the National Coffee Park.

Ironically, this pineapple is growing on its native continent in a park dedicated to an imported crop.  Coffee is originally from Ethiopia.

(*) The Hawaiian introduction date may have been 1/21 instead of 1/11.  Perhaps poor handwriting in the historical record makes it hard to determine whether it’s “11” or “21.”

(photos from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the images to see the originals)