Elettaria in the context of Elettaria cardamomum

Cardamom (/ˈkɑːrdəməm/), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are recognized by their small seed pods: triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin, papery outer shell and small, black seeds; Elettaria pods are light green and smaller, while Amomum pods are dark brown and larger.

Species used for cardamom are native throughout tropical and subtropical Asia. The first references to cardamom are found in Sumer, and in Ayurveda. In the 21st century, it is cultivated mainly in India, Indonesia, and Guatemala.

Zingiberaceae, the ginger family, is a family of flowering plants containing 58 genera and about 1600 described species distributed globally in the tropics and subtropics. They are aromatic perennial herbs with creeping rhizomes, sometimes tuberous. Many of the family's species are important ornamental, spice, or medicinal plants. Ornamental genera include the shell gingers (Alpinia), Curcuma, Hedychium, Kaempferia, and torch-gingers (Etlingera). Spices include ginger (Zingiber officinale), Thai ginger (Alpinia galanga and others), melegueta pepper (Aframomum melegueta), myoga (Zingiber mioga), korarima (Aframomum corrorima), turmeric (Curcuma), and cardamom (Amomum and Elettaria species).