''Amomum'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of plants containing about 111 species native to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. It includes several species of

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genus (biology), genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indon ...

. Plants of this genus are remarkable for their pungency and aromatic properties. Among ancient writers, the name ''amomum'' was ascribed to various odoriferous plants that cannot be positively identified today. The word derives from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''amomum'', which is the latinisation of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

ἄμωμον (''amomon''), a kind of an Indian spice plant.ἄμωμον
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library Edmund Roberts noted on his 1834 trip to China that ''amomum'' was used as a spice to "season sweet dishes" in culinary practice.

Selected species

See list of ''Amomum'' species for a complete list. The following have further information: *'' Amomum exertum'' *'' Amomum smithiae'' *''

Amomum subulatum ''Amomum subulatum'', also known as black cardamom, hill cardamom, Bengal cardamom, greater cardamom, Indian cardamom, Nepal cardamom, winged cardamom, big cardamon, or brown cardamom, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Zingiberaceae. ...

'' (black cardamom) - type species

Formerly placed here

*''Amomum compactum'' – now '' Wurfbainia compacta'' *''Amomum costatum'' – now '' Hornstedtia costata'' *''Amomum dallachyi'' – now '' Meistera dallachyi'' *''Amomum elegans'' – now '' Wurfbainia elegans'' *''Amomum ensal'' – now ''

Elettaria cardamomum ''Elettaria cardamomum'', commonly known as green cardamom or true cardamom, is a herbaceous plant, herbaceous, perennial plant in the Zingiberaceae, ginger family, native to southern India. It is the most common of the species whose seeds are u ...

'' *''Amomum epiphyticum'' – now '' Epiamomum epiphyticum'' *''Amomum filiforme'' – now '' Hedychium coronarium'' *''Amomum melegueta'' – now '' Aframomum melegueta'' *''Amomum mioga'' – now '' Zingiber mioga'' *''Amomum ovoideum'' – now '' Wurfbainia uliginosa'' *''Amomum pulchellum'' – now '' Cyphostigma pulchellum'' *''Amomum repens'' – now '' Renealmia alpinia'' *''Amomum robustum'' – now '' Wurfbainia uliginosa'' *''Amomum tsao-ko'' – now '' Lanxangia tsaoko'' *''Amomum uliginosum'' – now '' Wurfbainia uliginosa'' *''Amomum uncinatum'' – now ''

'' *''Amomum villosum'' – now '' Wurfbainia villosa'' *''Amomum zambesiacum'' – now '' Aframomum zambesiacum''

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q133225 Zingiberaceae genera