The plants have dense rosettes of spiny leaves from which the flower develops to produce a typical pinecone-shaped fruit. Pineapples can be propagated from pups at the base of the plant or by planting the topknot of the fruit. Variegated pineapple has longitudinally striped leaves that turn pink in bright light. The fruit is large and reddish, with numerous offsets at the bottom. Dwarf pineapple looks like a dwarf version of A. comosus with tiny, thumb-size fruit.
Earth stars grow almost flat against the ground and resemble brightly colored starfish.
The solid, striped or banded leaves may be green, brown, bronze, silver, white or pink. The flowers are inconspicuous. Earth stars are terrestrial bromeliads, and their growth requirements are different from epiphytic bromeliads. They cannot be mounted and need to be grown in rich, organic soil. Allow the mixture to dry slightly between waterings and fertilize monthly from mid spring through early fall.