genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...
s in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Zingiberaceae
Zingiberaceae () or the ginger family is a family of flowering plants made up of about 50 genera with a total of about 1600 known species of aromatic perennial herbs with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes distributed throughout tropical ...
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, but cultivated and naturalized elsewhere.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families /ref> One member of the genus, '' E. cardamomum'', is a commercially important spice used as a
flavouring agent
A flavoring (or flavouring), also known as flavor (or flavour) or flavorant, is a food additive used to improve the taste or smell of food. It changes the perceptual impression of food as determined primarily by the chemoreceptors of the gustat ...
in many countries.
In 2018, several
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
were removed from ''Elettaria'' and placed in a new genus called ''
Sulettaria
''Sulettaria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Zingiberaceae. The plants of the genus were formerly in the genus ''Elettaria'' until 2018.
''Sulettaria'' are native to Malaysia and Indonesia.
* '' Sulettaria brachycalyx'' S.Sakai ...
''. These species are recognized as of October 2018:
* '' Elettaria cardamomum'' (L.) Maton - India
* '' Elettaria ensal'' (Gaertn.) Abeyw. - Sri Lanka
These former species from
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
and
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
were reclassified into ''
Sulettaria
''Sulettaria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Zingiberaceae. The plants of the genus were formerly in the genus ''Elettaria'' until 2018.
''Sulettaria'' are native to Malaysia and Indonesia.
* '' Sulettaria brachycalyx'' S.Sakai ...
R.M.Sm.
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 fou ...