CARDAMOMS, the fruit of several plants of the genera Elettaria and Amomum, belonging to the family Zingiberaceae, the principal of which is Elettaria Cardamomum, from which the true official or Malabar cardamom is derived. The Malabar car damom plant is a large perennial herb with a thick fleshy root stock, which sends up flowering stems 6 to 1 aft. high. The large leaves are arranged in two rows, have long sheaths enveloping the stem and a lanceolate spreading blade 1 to 2 2f t. long. The fruit is an ovate-triangular, three-celled, three-valved capsule (about 4 to Sin. long, of dirty yellow colour) enclosing numerous angular seeds, which form the valuable part of the plant. It is a native of the mountainous parts of the Malabar coast of India. A cardamom of larger size growing in Ceylon, formerly regarded as a distinct species, is now known to be only a variety. In com merce, several varieties are distinguished according to their size and flavour. The most esteemed are known as "shorts," a name given to such capsules as are from a quarter to half an inch long and about a quarter broad. The Ceylon cardamom attains a length of an inch and a half and is about a third of an inch broad, with a brownish pericarp and a distinct aromatic odour. The fruits of various species of Amomum pass in commerce as cardamoms, e.g., A. Cardamomum, a native of Siam and Java.