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Accidentally Gulliver
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 8:52AM | Share Article 
Title page of first edition of Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift. From Wikimedia Commons. This image is in the public domain because it's copyright has expired.
I know that I have been remiss in posting and blog crawling, lately. I went away. I went on a holiday.
Let me tell you about it. Let me tell you about an accidental adventure that I had.
In order to get away from it all, I decided to go on a cruise. I think that my love of travel stems from the sense of adventure that I got from reading books as a child. One of my favorite books was "Gulliver's Travels. It was purely accidental that my daughter brought along the book "Gulliver's Travels" and left it in my cabin.
There was not much else to do on the first day because of a sudden storm outside so I decided to read the book again.
The storm had not yet cleared off, and the weather was very thick, the wind coming in furious squalls that drove the ship along at great speed, when suddenly from the lookout man came a wild cry—"Breakers ahead!"
But so close had the vessel come to the rocks before they were seen through the thick driving spray, that immediately, with, a heavy plunge, she crashed into the reef, and split her bows.
I swam till no strength or feeling was left in my arms and legs. Still I struggled on, utterly spent, until at last, in a part where the wind seemed to have less force, and the seas swept over me less furiously, it was accidental that I let down my legs and found that I was within my depth. I had reached dry land. I staggered forward but a little distance, and then, on the short, soft turf, sank down exhausted and slept.
When I woke, the sun was shining, and I tried to rise; but not by any means could I stir hand or foot. I had fallen asleep lying on my back, and now I found that my arms and legs were tightly fastened to the ground. Across my body were numbers of thin but strong cords, and even my hair, which had miraculously reappeared after all these years and had grown during this ordeal, was pegged down so securely that I could not turn my head.
All round about me there was a confused sound of voices, but I could see nothing except the sky, and the sun shone so hot and fierce into my eyes that I could scarcely keep them open.
Could it be? Had I accidentally reached the fabled Kingdom of Lilliput?
It would take too much time to give you a detailed account of the events that took place. Everything is small in Liliiput including plants.
The plant featured in this post is truly Lilliputian, the Ananas comosus var. ananassoides.
Ananas comosus var. ananassoides (taken 19 Sept 2011)I first showed it to you on this blog last August as part of Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. It was NOID at that time. This red inflorescence is known as the "red heart" stage.
Fruit (taken 14 August 2011)Flowers started to come out of the inflorescence. The pink and purple tufts are flowers. Not only flowers started to show, but it's top or crown as well.
Flowers and crown (taken 6 September 2011)The flowers withered and dried up but the crown still kept on growing . . .
Fruit with growing crown (taken 19 September 2011). . . and growing.....but not much.
Fruit and crown (taken 01 November 2011)Doesn't it remind you of something? The similarity in appearance is not accidental. It is a pineapple. The A. comosus var. ananassoides is a bromeliad, specifically a pineapple, that is native to Bolivia, Brazil and Costa Rica. It is also known as the Cerrado pineapple and is supposed to be edible although I dare not eat it. The plant is monocarpic after all and I'd rather collect the seeds. But the most amazing characteristic of this plant is its size. It's is so small that its fruit is just a little bigger than a cherry. In trade, it is popularly known as the "Mini Pineapple Plant" and by no means is this accidental.
Here is a view of the crown from the top.
In the following picture, you see its leaves arranged in a rosette. The older leaves are located near the base of the plant and the younger leaves are more central. Notice the spines along the leaf edges. I came across a Brazilian plant blog that has a post about a place in Brazil, Lagoa Santa - Minas Gerais, banning this plant in public. Was it brought on by the number of people who would hurt themselves when they brushed agains the plant, even if only accidental? No law like that in Lilliput, I tell you.
My A. comosus receives full sunlight and is watered daily. No special care is needed.
Latest picture of the whole plant. (November 2011)
Did this plant come from Lilliput? I think so and I know just the person who brought this plant to our world.
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This post is my entry to this week's Macro Monday and GWGT's W4W.
Garden Walk, Garden Talk's Word 4 Wednesday is ACCIDENTAL. The use of this word and its derivative 9 times in this post was intentional and not accidental (10 times) at all. :-D
Accidental:
adjective
1 happening by chance, unintentionally, or unexpectedly : a verdict of accidental death | the damage might have been accidental.
2 incidental; subsidiary : the location is accidental and contributes nothing to the tension between the characters in the poem.
3 Philosophy (in Aristotelian thought) relating to or denoting propertiesthat are not essential to a thing's nature.
DERIVATIVES :accidentally |ˈadverb
For more Macro Monday, head on over to Lisa's Chaos.
accidental, ananassoides, comosus, gulliver, macro, macro monday, plant, plant chaser, word-4-wednesday | in Ananas
Reader Comments (36)
I agree. Too cute to be eaten. (Sayang din ang seeds).
I didn't know what it was when I purchased it. The seller just tole me it was some kind of bromeliad. Good thing I still bought it even without an ID.
Bom I like the effort you put making this post, lovely too. However, i can see the distinct variation at the side where the mask meets the face, LOL. If that Ananas comosus will successfully seed, will you be generous enough to give me some? It is so white i love it although i don't want that too long stem. Or maybe it will produce slips when the top died, that is preferred! You said it received full sun, meaning sunrise to sunset? The variegated small pineapple i planted on my 5th floor window as foreground silhouette for my sunsets died, in case you will give me seeds or slips, i will plant that in Batangas, where conditions are better. thanks.
What an adorable little pineapple! It must be just the right size for a garden gnome. ;) I enjoyed hearing about this plant, and remembering Gulliver's travels. I hope you had a wonderful time on your cruise!
@ Andrea: I will take it as a compliment that my face is smaller than Jack Black's. Hahaha. My wife wanted to make a career out of the editing thing and wanted to take a new picture of me but I told her to just use any available picture.
Of course I'll give you seed. At least that will mean two of us keeping our fingers crossed. As for sun exposure, it is not shaded at all. There is a bigger pot beside it that blocks early morning sunlight but that's pretty much it. Length of exposure depends on the time of the year it can get direct sunlight from midmorning to afternoon. Right now it only gets direct sun from a little before noon to late afternoon.
@ HolleyGarden: Thanks! I think you're right. Perfect size for a gnome.
Was that you? You look marvelous, my friend...
Oh, now that is not an Accidental post! You put a whole lot of work into this one and it is wonderful. Glad you escaped from the ties that bind, goodness, they had you nailed down tight. The pineapple plant is again, something I have never seen before, but when you live in the Great White North like I do, exotic species are far and few between, at least for outdoor growing purposes.
This was such an enjoyable, educational post!
Fun post! I wonder what it tastes like? I would be scared to try it as well.
It is good you got to go on a sweet cruise. Sounds delightful!
@ Lrong: Yes, my wife was the one who superimposed my face, though.
@ Karen: Thank you very much! It is always good to be appreciated. Glad you liked this post.
@ Rosey: I'm really after the seeds. I hope I can get some out of the fruit.
Your blog is beautiful and I love your it.
Very entertaining post with your pictures. I grew up watching Gulliver adventures and whenever I visit any bonsai exhibits it remind me of Lilliput land. Nice work!
It will be great if that pineapple is edible. We grow a zinnia flower variety called lilliput.
I'm still wondering how you got all tied up. :) Btw, I suppose you are still actively working out with your spouse. Your caption has been selected and shall be posted on Monday. Thank you for the contribution.
Hi Bom,
I won't worry about your highly active imagination....now that I've seen the plant! LOL
What a very cool pineapple. I'd guess about one bite's worth.
Hey, In one of the photos I'm noticing all those beautiful plants along that great garden wall. Any chance you could do a post with some views of your garden wall and plants?
Looks absolutely fantastic! Just an idea for you.
David/ :-)
@ Brad: Thank you!
@ Hardinars: Bonsai's too! Yes, of course. What I'd like to know is if Lilliputians ever had garden gnomes and if they did, how small they were. Hehehe!
@ Diana: Cool! I must look up this Lilliput variety. Thanks for the heads up.
@ One: Oh, I don't know either. I was already tied up when I gained consciousness. Hehehe!
Thanks, I'll drop by your blog tomorrow.
@ David: Not even sufficient to be a satisfying bite.
I'll keep your suggestion about the plants in mind. I'm glad you liked them. They're all potted and move around every so often depending on where the sun rises at certain times of the year.
Your other visitors to the blog are far more sophisticated than I with their insousciant "beautiful macros" throwaway lines......no idea how you did it or what is macro but to emerge pinned down liliput style is very stylish and clever.
Catharine, the macros are the "extreme close-ups" of the tiny pineapple. Not everyone appreciated my Lilliput capture. It's nice that you are one of those that did.