Amomum

Amomum is a genus of plants native to China, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Queensland.[1][3] It includes several species of cardamom, especially black cardamom. Plants of this genus are remarkable for their pungency and aromatic properties.[4][5]

Amomum
Amomum subulatum (black cardamom)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Zingiberaceae
Subfamily: Alpinioideae
Tribe: Alpinieae
Genus: Amomum
Roxb.
Synonyms[1]
  • Elettariopsis Baker[2]
  • Torymenes Salisb., without description
  • Zedoaria Raf.
  • Geocallis Horan.
  • Cardamomum Rumph. ex Kuntze
  • Conamomum Ridl.
  • Paramomum S.Q.Tong

Among ancient writers, the name amomum was ascribed to various odoriferous plants that cannot be positively identified today. The word derives from Latin amomum,[6] which is the latinisation of the Greek ἄμωμον (amomon), a kind of an Indian spice plant.[7] Edmund Roberts noted on his 1834 trip to China that amomum was used as a spice to "season sweet dishes" in culinary practice.[8]

Selected species

See List of Amomum species for a complete list.

The following have further information:

Placed elsewhere

The following species are now placed in other genera:

Now be placed in the reconstituted genus Wurfbainia:

See also

References

  1. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. POWO: Elettariopsis Baker
  3. Flora of China v 24 p 347, 豆蔻属 dou kou shu, Amomum Roxburgh, Pl. Coromandel. 3: 75. 1820.
  4. Govaerts, R. (1995). World Checklist of Seed Plants 1(1, 2): 1-483, 1-529. MIM, Deurne.
  5. Lamxay, V. & Newman, M.F. (2012). A revision of Amomum (Zingiberaceae) in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 69: 99-206.
  6. amomum, Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, on Perseus Digital Library
  7. ἄμωμον, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
  8. Roberts, Edmund (1837). Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat. New York: Harper & Brothers. p. 138.
  • Media related to Amomum at Wikimedia Commons
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