= Bromeliaceae
{c}
<Bromeliaceae> is the flowering-plant family containing the <pineapple> and plants such as <Tillandsia usneoides>, commonly called Spanish moss. The family includes ground-growing plants and <epiphytes>, which grow on other plants as supports. Those different habits illustrate why a family is an evolutionary classification rather than a single way of obtaining physical support.<Ananas comosus in Plants of the World Online>[General information: Bromeliaceae, pineapple and epiphytic Tillandsia examples]{ref}
The <pineapple> supplies a distinctive reproductive example. Its <multiple fruit> develops from several <flowers> in an <inflorescence>. That familiar product helps identify one family member, but it should not be converted into a claim that every member of <Bromeliaceae> produces a pineapple-like edible structure.<Multiple fruit in the New York Botanical Garden French Guianan E-Flora glossary>[Pineapple developmental description]{ref}
For an illustrative classification exercise, compare a ground-grown <pineapple> with an <epiphyte> attached to a branch. Recording habitat and support alone would separate them ecologically, while floral and inherited characters can place them in the same family. Conversely, two unrelated plants growing on branches do not become close relatives simply by sharing that habit.
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