Elettaria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Zingiberaceae. They are native to India and Sri Lanka, but cultivated and naturalized elsewhere. One member of the genus, E. cardamomum, is a commercially important spice used as a flavouring agent in many countries.
The genus Zingiber is native to Southeast Asia especially in Thailand, China, the Indian Subcontinent, and New Guinea. It contains the true gingers, plants grown the world over for their culinary value. The most well known are Z. biphrobsis and Z. mioga, two garden gingers.
Curcuma is a genus of plants in the family Zingiberaceae that contains such species as turmeric and Siam tulip. They are native to Southeast Asia, southern China, the Indian Subcontinent, New Guinea and northern Australia. Some species are reportedly naturalized in other warm parts of the world such as tropical Africa, Central America, Florida, and various islands of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Generally, most curcuma grows well in loose and sandy soil in shaded areas.
Amomum is a genus of plants native to China, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Queensland. It includes several species of cardamom, especially black cardamom. Plants of this genus are remarkable for their pungency and aromatic properties.
Meistera is an Asian genus of plants in the family Zingiberaceae. Species have been recorded from Tropical & Subtropical Asia to northern Queensland.
Wurfbainia is an Asian genus of plants in the family Zingiberaceae. Species have been recorded from the Himalayas, S. China, Indo-China and W. & Central Malesia. It has previously been placed as a synonym of Amomum.
Conamomum is an accepted genus of plants in the family Zingiberaceae and tribe Alpinieae. Its native range is from Indochina to W. Malesia.
Plagiostachys is a genus of plants in the Zingiberaceae. It is native to Southeast Asia.
Boesenbergia is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It contains more than 70 species, native to China, the Indian Subcontinent, and Southeast Asia.
Haplochorema is a small genus of flowering plants in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It has 6 known species, all native to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in Southeast Asia:
Scaphochlamys is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to Southeast Asia.
Wurfbainia elegans is a species of plants in the Zingiberaceae family. It is endemic to the Philippines.
Alpinioideae is a subfamily of plants in the family Zingiberaceae.
Wurfbainia uliginosa is the type species of the recently reconstituted plant genus Wurfbainia in the ginger family. Its native range is from Indo-China to Sumatra.
Rosemary Margaret Smith (1933–2004) was a Scottish botanist and illustrator who specialized in the taxonomy of the Zingiberaceae, or ginger family. Many of the species she classified and identified as being placed into improper genera were found in Asian countries, especially in the isolated island of Borneo.
Epiamomum epiphyticum is a monocotyledonous plant species in the family Zingiberaceae. It was previously placed as Amomum epiphyticum, described by Rosemary Margaret Smith.
Sulettaria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Zingiberaceae. The plants of the genus were formerly in the genus Elettaria until 2018.
Wurfbainia vera is a herbaceous plant in the Zingiberaceae family. Formerly called Amomum verum, it was the first plant species to be named by a woman, the Scots artist Elizabeth Blackwell in 1757. The Kingdom of Siam obtained the fruit (seeds) of the plant from Cambodia in the 18th century to export as a spice to China and Europe. As well as Cambodia the species is found in Sumatra, Thailand and Vietnam. The young leaf, the fruit and the seeds are edible, the seeds are known as Siam cardamom in English.
Sundamomum is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Zingiberaceae.
