Objective To utilize and protect preferably the pharmaceutical resource from Amomum Roxb.. Methods Field investigation and arrangement of literatures. Results Amomum Roxb. was the second largest genus in the ginger family (Zingiberaecae), there were a total of 20 species and varieties of medicinal plants recorded in China, and among them, A. kravanh, A. villousm, A. tsaoko were recorded in Chinese pharmacopoeia as the three mainstream medicinal materials, the rest were used in folk or ethnic recipes. The three mainstream medicinal materials all belonged to aromatic damp-resolving drug, the most widely used material was A. villousm, the second was A. kravanh, and the third was A. tsaoko, which were recorded in 51, 21, 5 prescriptions of pharmacopoeia, respectively. Conclusion Combined with the research result of molecular systematics of the genus and knowledge of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, it would be easy to identify the characteristics of the medicinal materials from the genus, and to distinguish their confused materials from other species. The pharmaceutical resource from the genus was limited because of their relatively narrow distribution, therefore the protection, the development and utilization of its resources would be worthy of attention.