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Wurfbainia vera is a rhizomatous herb in the ginger family, growing 2 to 3 metres tall, grown for its aromatic seeds, known as Siam cardamom. It is native to wet tropical forests of Sumatra, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
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. The species occurs not only in Cambodia, but also in Sumatra, Thailand and Vietnam. The young leaf, the fruit and the seeds are edible, the seeds are known as Siam cardamom in English.
The species is native to an area from Sumatra to Southeast Asia. Countries and regions where the taxa occurs are: Indonesia (Sumatra), Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It is common in Thailand and Cambodia, especially in the Cardamom Mountains.
The plant is used as a food and in medicine. In Cambodia the young leaves are consumed in Sâmlâ ("Cambodian curries"). The rhizomes, fruit and seeds are edible, with the seeds being used as a spice. Amongst households harvesting forest plants from Nam Nao National Park, Thailand, this species represented about 6% of the income earned from the sale of herbs and spices.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Wurfbainia vera by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
