Amomum Roxb. is a moderately large and diverse genus, with several widely cultivated species of economic importance. The first regional treatment of Amomum of Sumatra, in which 23 species are recognised, is presented here. Two species, Amomum mentawaiense A.J. Droop and Amomum oligophyllum A.J. Droop, are newly described, and a further nine species are recorded for the first time from the island. Detailed descriptions and provisional IUCN assessments are provided for each species, and a key to the Amomum species of Sumatra is given. The names Amomum compactum Sol. ex Maton and Amomum cardamomum sensu Roxb. Are lectotypified and a transcription of Solander’s collection notes for A. compactum is provided. Evolutionary relationships within the tribe Alpinieae, and in particular within Amomum Roxb., were reconstructed based on sequences from the nuclear ribosomal ITS region and the chloroplast regions matK and trnL-F. Phylogenetic analyses identified at least seven distinct groups of Amomum species within the Alpinieae, suggesting that the genus as currently defined is polyphyletic. Alpinia and Hornstedtia were also identified as being polyphyletic. Morphological character analysis identified several characters that could be used, in combination, to distinguish between the groups of Amomum and of these, fruit morphology is the most informative. A hypothesis for the temporal and spatial evolutionary history for the Zingiberaceae and tribe Alpinieae was developed using a phylogeny derived from ITS sequence data and Bayesian ancestral area and dating reconstruction analyses. A Laurasian origin of the Zingiberaceae (105 – 72 Ma) is proposed, with the Alpinieae migrating south-east across Sundaland and crossing Wallace’s Line from the west to the east. Long-distance dispersal events are suggested to account for the presence of Aframomum and Renealmia in Africa, and Renealmia in the Neotropics.