Amomum villosum var. xanthioides

(Wallich ex Baker) T. L. Wu & S. J. Chen

Wild siamese cardamom

Zingiberaceae Edible: Spice, Seeds, Leaves, Vegetable

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Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

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Meise Botanic Garden

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Meise Botanic Garden

Description

A herb in the ginger family. It keeps growing from year to year. It has rhizomes or underground stems. There are also reed like stems that can be 2-2.5 m tall. The leaves are in two rows and are sword shaped and 20-35 cm long. The flowers are white with purple spots. They are in rounded heads near the base of the plant. The fruit is an oval capsule with 3 valves.

Edible Uses

The seeds are used for flavouring liqueurs and as a cardamom substitute. The leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. The rhizomes are slightly boiled and eaten.

Traditional Uses

The seeds are used for flavouring. They are used to flavour liqueurs and as a substitute for cardamom. The leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. The rhizomes are slightly boiled and eaten.

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. It grows in forests between 600-800 m above sea level in southern China. In Yunnan.

Where It Grows

Asia, Cambodia, China, India, Indochina, Laos, Myanmar, SE Asia, Thailand, Vietnam,

Cultivation

Plants are grown by division.

Other Information

It is cultivated.

Notes

There are about 150 Amomum species. They are mostly tropical.

Synonyms

Amomum villosum var. nanum H. T. Tsai & S. W. ZhaoAmomum xanthioides Wallich ex Baker

Also Known As

Kar-wahn, Malabar cardamom, Maliangkuoyou, Sa nhan xanh, Tavoy cardamom

References (15)

Ambasta S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 35
Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 24
Brown, D., 2002, The Royal Horticultural Society encyclopedia of Herbs and their uses. DK Books. p 118
Burkill, I.H., 1966, A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol 1 (A-H) p 137
Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 247

Show all 15 references

Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 50
J. D. Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 6:239. 1892
Kachenchart, B., et al, 2008, Phenology of Edible Plants at Sakaerat Forest. In Proceedings of the FORTROP II: Tropical Forestry Change in a Changing World. Bangkok, Thailand.
Morton,
PROSEA handbook Volume 13 Spices. p 274
Sang, D. T., & Mizoue, K. O. N., 2012, Use of Edible Forest Plants among Indigenous Ethnic Minorities in Cat Tien Biosphere Reserve, Vietnam. Asian Journal of Biodiversity Vol. 3 (1), p 23-49 (As Amomum xanthioides)
Seidemann J., 2005, World Spice Plants. Economic Usage, Botany, Taxonomy. Springer. p 38
Suksri, S., et al, 2005, Ethnobotany in Bung Khong Long Non-Hunting Area, Northeast Thailand. Kasetsart J., (Nat. Sci) 39: 519-533
Xu, You-Kai, et al, 2004, Wild Vegetable Resources and Market Survey in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China. Economic Botany. 58(4): 647-667.
Zeven, A. C. & de West, J. M. J., 1982, Dictionary of cultivated plants and their regions of diversity. Wageningen. p 80 (As Amomum xanthioides)