Ananas comosus, in the family Bromeliaceae, is indigenous to South America. During the 1600s and 1700s, it was considered a highly valuable commodity in Europe and America. As pineapples require heat and humidity, they were rare and very expensive to acquire. Pineapples were even rented for parties during this era. In ca. 1777, the Earl of Dunmore went so far as to build a 46-foot tall sandstone pineapple building in Scotland (known as the Dunmore Pineapple).