Cardamom (elettaria cardamomum) Cardamom is a tall herbaceous perennial, with branching subterranean root stock, belonging to the ginger family. Main origins are India and Guatemala. Cardamom is strictly a tropical crop that requires a moderately warm climate with a mean annual temperature of about 72 fahrenheit and 100 to 160 inches of rainfall. Today the most important grades of cardamom are the seeds and the green- and coloured mixed varieties.