Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton, Zingiberaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Accept, score: -1 (Go to the risk assessment).

Common name(s): [more details]

English: cardamom

French: cardamomier, cardamone, elaiti

Spanish: caramomo

Habit:  herb

Description:  (var. major): "Leafy shoot up to 4 m high. Petioles up to 2.5 cm long; lamina up to c. 1 m x 15 cm, lanceolate, acuminate, lightly pubescent or glabrous below; ligule to 1 cm long, entire. Inflorescence usually borne separately on a prostrate (occasionally erect) stalk up to 40 cm. Bracts 2-3 x 0.8-1 cm, lanceolate, acute, glabrous, rather persistent but becoming fimbriate with age. Cincinni many-flowered. Bracteoles up to 2.5 cm long, tubular, mucronate, glabrous. Calyx up to 2 cm long, 2- or obscurely 3-lobed, lobes mucronate. Corolla-tube about as long as the calyx; lobes 1-1.5 cm long, rounded at the apex, the dorsal lobe widest. Labellum white, streaked violet, 1.5-2 x 1 cm at widest part, obovate, obscurely 3-lobed, narrowed at the base. Lateral staminodes inconspicuous, subulate. Anther sessile; thecae c. 1 cm long, parallel, connective prolonged into a short, entire crest. Ovary 2-3 mm long, glabrous. Capsule oblong or globose" (Dassanayake, 1983; oo, 529-530).

Habitat/ecology:  On La Réunion, invasive in wet lowlands forests (David Lorence, pers. com.). Valleys in humid forests in Sri Lanka and South India (Drake et al., 1989).

Propagation:  Seed?

Native range:  Southern India and Sri Lanka (Dassanayake, 1983; oo, 529-530).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Fiji Fiji Islands	Fiji Islands	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 202)
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	introduced cultivated	Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. (1988) (p. 71)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	MacDonald, I. A. W./Thebaud, C./Strahm, W. A./Strasberg, D. (1991) (pp. 51-61)
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Naturalisé"

Additional information:
Additional online information about Elettaria cardamomum is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Elettaria cardamomum as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Elettaria cardamomum may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Dassanayake, M. D., gen. ed. 1983. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. Vol IV. Amerind Pub. Co., New Delhi. 532 pp.

Drake, J./di Castri, F./Groves, R./Kruger, F./Mooney, H./Rejamanek, R./Williamson, M. 1989. Biological Invasions: A Global Perspective. John Wiley & Sons, NY. 525 pp.

Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. 1988. Flora of the Solomon Islands. Research Bulletin No. 7. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Honiara. 203 pp.

Lavergne, Christophe. 2006. List des especes exotiques envahissantes a La Reunion. Unpublished manuscript (Excel file). .

MacDonald, I. A. W./Thebaud, C./Strahm, W. A./Strasberg, D. 1991. Effects of alien plant invasions on native vegetation remnants on La Reunion (Mascarenes Islands, Indian Ocean). Environmental Conservation 18 (1):51-61.

Porcher, Michel H. 2011. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database. The University of Melbourne, Australia. Online resource.

Smith, Albert C. 1979. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 1. 494 pp.