Ananas macrodontes E.Morren[as Ananas macrodontes Morren]

Observations: —See Coppens d'Eeckenbrugge G. & Leal F. The Pineapple CAB Int 2003
Local names: yvira (Paraguay), gravata de rede, gravata de cerca brava, nana cacaba (Brazil). These names, respectively, mean fibre, fishing-net bromeliad, fierce fence bromeliad and strong spine pineapple, in reference to the uses of the plant,

A. macrodontes lacks a crown at the top of the syncarp and reproduces vegetatively by stolons. Exceptional genotypes may also produce shoots directly from the stem (e.g. accession CRF001 at the Venezuelan Centro Nacional de Conservacion de Recursos Fitogeneticos) or produce a rudimentary crown (as in specimen US-2622957). Its leaf margins bear strong spines, which are retrorse at the leaf base. The fruits are low in acid. A. macrodontes has been reported as self-compatible, with 2n = 4x =100 chromosomes (Collins, 1960). Its natural distribution corresponds to coastal and southern Brazil, up to Pernambuco, and to the drainage of the Paraguay and Parani rivers, from southeastern Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina up to Mato Grosso (Coppens d'Eeckenbrugge et al., 1997). Its habitat is limited to forest areas, under semi-dense shade. It is subjected to a rainy season during most of the year or even to periods of flooding. Populations of A. macrodontes are rare now because of a very strong reduction of its habitat.
Camargo (cited by Reyes-Zumeta, 1967) considered that this species includes at least three botanical varieties, one corresponding to the description by Morren and another A. microcephalus, described by Bertoni (1919) in Paraguay. On the contrary, Baker and Collins observed very little variation in those areas (Smith, 1939). However, the few types observed by Ferreira et al. (1992) in Paraguay and South Brazil showed significant variation, which was confirmed by the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) study of Duval et al. (1998).

Edited from : Bartholomew et al. 2003. The pineapple: botany, production and uses .