Ananas bracteatus var. tricolor (Bertoni) L.B.Sm.[as Ananas bracteatus var. tricolor (Bertoni) L. B. Smith,]

Diagnose: —A var. bracteato foliis late variegato-striatis differt.

Observations: —A NEW VARIETY OF PINEAPPLE by Mulford B. Foster in Brom Soc. Bull. 8: 97. 1959
Ananas bracteatus ( Lindl. ) Schult. var. striatus M. B. Foster var. nov.
Cultivated in Orlando. Florida since 1939, M. B. Foster No. 2900, (Type in U. S. Nat'l. Herb.)
This variegated form of A. bracteatus may have had a perfectly good name in the past but so far we have been unable to locate it; thus, we are naming it as a new variety.
Certainly, the plant has been known for several years in horticulture and is still used as a decorative plant in Europe.
In 1939 the writer first saw this plant in the Jardim Botanico in Rio where it was labeled Ananas Cochin-chinensis. (How anyone could have thought this plant originated in the Orient, I cannot imagine.) It has been a part of our collection ever since that time.
In the past few years I have seen plants and photographs of this variety from Europe and in all instances they have been labeled as Ananas sativus var. variegatus. Also, the plants of A. comosus var. variegatus are usually labeled A. sativus var. variegatus but I am sure few persons have realized that these two stunning variegated plants were different species - especially if they were not in fruit, and both of them viewed at the same time.
The profusion of names, specific and generic, that have been given to the pineapple with its many horticultural forms, notably, of A. comosus, has certainly caused much confusion in trying to straighten out the long history through which this delectable fruit has passed.
The writer has gathered the fruit of A. bracteatus in its wild state in Brazil and enjoyed its delicious flavor, regardless of its many seeds, but the original species of our world-wide known A. comosus has never been seen growing as a wild native plant in its original habitat by anyone in recent times. It entered the world of commerce several centuries ago.

Edited from : Smith & Downs 1979. (protologue) Bromelioideae (Bromeliaceae) in Flora Neotropica.