Botanical name: Aframomum melegueta

Common names: Grains of Paradise, Melegueta pepper, alligator pepper, Guinea grains, and Guinea pepper

Grains of paradise is a species in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, and closely related to cardamom. Its seeds are used as a spice; it imparts a pungent, black-pepper-like flavor with hints of citrus. They were traditionally valued in West African folk medicine for their warming and digestive properties.

Grains of paradise were used in many Traditional African religions, Voodoo, and Hoodoo, for divination, luck-bringing, and religious rites.