Bromelia pinguin

Bromelia pinguin is a plant species in the genus Bromelia. This species is native to Central America, Mexico, the West Indies and northern South America. It is also reportedly naturalized in Florida. It is very common in Jamaica, where it is planted as a fence around pasture lands, on account of its prickly leaves, and has historically been used as an herbal abortifacient. The plant can be stripped of its pulp, soaked in water, and beaten with a wooden mallet, and it yields a fiber whence thread is made. In Nicaragua and El Salvador it is used to make gruel.

Description

A herb. It is like a pineapple plant. It grows attached to other plants. It grows 1.2-2 m high. It spreads 2 m wide. The leaves are sword shaped and curve outwards. They are green but turn red at the base of the flower. There are teeth on the edges of the leaves. These are hooked. The flowers are purple and white. There are white woolly bracts along the fruit. The fruit are a crowded head of berries that are plum like and edible. They are yellow. The head is 60-100 cm long.

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Flowers Fruit Shoots Edible Uses: Drink The fruits are edible but very acid. The fruit is intensely sour and acrid, it is sometimes used for making vinegar. It makes an excellent, refreshing drink. The young shoots at the base of the plant can be eaten raw or cooked. They are much used as food in all the dryer regions of Guatemala. They can be had when ordinary vegetables are scarce or unobtainable, as at the end of the dry season. The inflorescence is fried and eaten. In El Salvador, it is used to make gruel.

Traditional Uses

The fruit is mostly used for juice. It is very sour and is used for vinegar. The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked. The flower is fried and eaten. It is cooked in stews with onion and capsicum. The base of the shoots are eaten raw or cooked.

Medicinal Uses

None known

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. It is best in a seasonally wet and dry climate. It needs well-drained soil. It can grow in full sun or light shade. In Costa Rica it grows from sea level to 800 m altitude. It suits hardiness zones 9-12.

Where It Grows

Australia, Brazil, Caribbean, Central America*, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guiana, Guianas, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Lesser Antilles, Mexico*, Nicaragua, North America, Pacific, Puerto Rico, South America*, Suriname, USA, Venezuela, West Indies,

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seed or offsets.

Propagation

Seed

Other Uses

Fencing Fibre Hedge String Much planted for hedges and fences in central America and the West Indies. Other Uses: A fibre obtained from the leaves has been used locally for cordage, ropes etc. Rather weak. It is stripped of its pulp, soaked in water, and beaten with a wooden mallet to yield the fiber. Special Uses Carbon Farming Food Forest Hedge

Other Information

It is sold in local markets.

Notes

There are 51 Bromelia species. They grow in tropical America.

Synonyms

Also Known As

Barbed-wire fence, Borregos, Caracuate, Cardo, Chibichibe, Chupaya, Corazon de Fuego, Guapilla, Maya, Pina de raton, Pinguin, Pinuela, Viru, Wild pineapple

References (33)

• Ambasta S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 87
• Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 66
• Bodkin, F., 1991, Encyclopedia Botanica. Cornstalk publishing, p 171
• Castaneda, H., & Stepp, J. R., 2007, Ecosystems as Sources of Useful Plants for the Guaymi People of Costa Rica. Ethnobotany Journal. 5:249-257
• Chizmar Fernandez, C., et al, 2009, Plantas comestibles de Centroamerica. Instituto de Biodiversidad, Costa Rica. p 133

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