Objective Investigating the phenotypic trait variation range of Amomum villosum Lour， and looking for phenotypic traits closely related with yield， and to provide reference for its breeding in the future. Methods Randomly labelled plants of Amomum villosum Lour， observed its phenotypic traits and analysis by variation， correlation and path analysis. Results 10 phenotypic traits variation in 3 cultivated populations of Amomum villosum Lour were great， the coefficient of variation for each phenotypic traits as follows：fruit number>leaf number>tiller stem diameter>ligule length>plant height>leaf length>leaf width>stem diameter>fruit shape index>fruit diameter>fruit longitudinal diameter. Correlation analysis showed that the fruit shape index had no significant correlation（P>0.05）with plant height， but had a highly significant correlation（P<0.01） with Ligule length， fruit diameter and origin environment. Effect of the other phenotypic traits on fruit shape index was as follows：fruit diameter（0.9025）>fruit longitudinal diameter（0.8668）>tiller stem diameter（0.0088）>stem diameter（0.0086）>origin environment（0.0023）>leaf width（0.0021）>fruit number（0.0011）>leaf number（0.0003）>ligule length（0.0003）>leaf length（0.0002）>plant height（0）. The fruit of Amomum villosum Lour can be divide into different types， fruit of big-round type was better than the big-long type’ and small-round type. Conclusion The phenotypic traits of Amomum villosum Lou in Xishuangbanna had rich variations， we found fruit of big-round type are better than the big-long type and small-round type on yield and quality. When choosing different fruit types， fruit diameter with a largest direct contribution to fruit shape index can be used as the preferred character. Stem diameter， leaf number， leaf length with a certain contribution to fruit shape index can be used as the second preferred traits. The big-round-type fruit would be the best fruit type for its breeding.