Amomum villosum is a plant in the ginger family that is grown throughout Southeast Asia and in South China. Similar to cardamom, the plant is cultivated for their fruits, which dry into pods when mature and contain strongly aromatic seeds. The pods are used in Chinese cuisines to flavour soups and in Chinese herbology to treat stomach ache and dysentery. The thickness of the growth plates also increased to (591 +/- 37) and (598 +/- 32) microm, respectively, as compared with the control (524 +/- 89) microm (P<0.001). The number of BrdU-positive cells in the chondrocytes of the A. villosum and rhGH groups was also significantly higher (126 +/- 24) and (143 +/- 18) cells/mm2, respectively) than in the control (109 +/- 25) mm2 (P<0.05). Insulin-like growth factor-1 and bone morphogenetic protein-2 in the A. villosum and rhGH groups were highly expressed in the growth plate as compared with the control samples, indicating increased bone formation. A. villosum could be used to treat growth retardation during adolescence.