From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
Tropical plant, Eletaria cardamomum Maton, from the ginger family, an important part of the Greek trade with the East as early as the 4th century BC and probably the most popular spice in Rome at that time. Cardamom is said to have grown in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in 720 BC. It's most often encountered today in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent and in Baltic and Scandinavian baked goods and in the cardamom-flavored coffee that is so popular in the Arab countries. Cardamom seeds are the third most expensive spice, after saffron and vanilla, and are produced primarily in India and Sri Lanka.
