The native Malabar name for this genus.
Leafy shoots to 3-4 m tall. Leaves in 2 ranks with the sheaths open opposite the blades. Flower clusters on leafless, mostly prostrate, shoots that are usually below ground. Bracts separated along the shoot and each with several flowers. Flowers with sterile stamens reduced to small protuberances. Anther with a small crest. Fruit spherical to oblong.
A tropical plant of shady places.
Division of rhizomes, seed.
Source of the commercial cardamom spice, the seeds producing aromatic oils that are used to flavour foods. In India the seeds are chewed and used medicinally.
Flower clusters long and open at the ends of leafless shoots.
3-4 species from tropical Asia.
Source: (2005). Zingiberaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
