In 1950, Holttum placed species from Malaysia in the cardamom genus, Elettaria, while noting that they may, in fact, belong elsewhere in the tribe Alpinieae. We tested this hypothesis applying phylogenetic methods using nuclear ITS and At103, and plastid matK, ndhF and trnL-F sequences from several samples of the genus. In the resulting molecular phylogeny, these samples appeared in three separate places of the Alpinieae. Elettaria s. str. is endemic in India and Sri Lanka while all species from Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo are placed in a new genus, Sulettaria which, furthermore, includes six species with basionyms in Amomum, A. kandariense from Sulawesi and the other five from Borneo. Fifteen new combinations are made, an identification key provided and lectotypes designated for three species. Plants labelled as cardamom and exhibited in some botanic gardens have been misidentified and represent a species in the Alpinia zerumbet clade.