Delphinieae

Delphinieae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. It comprises 4 genera found in Eurasia, North America, and Africa.

==Description== Some species are perennial, whereas others are annual. The leaves are palmate with alternate (spiral) phyllotaxis. The inflorescences are racemose, typically with blue flowers. The flowers have five sepals and a zygomorphic shape. That is, the flowers are symmetrical in only one plane. In most species, the inner petals, which are reduced and completely enclosed by the sepal whorl, have a pair of nectar spurs that force pollinators to move back and forth to get nectar from both spurs. The petals are also dorsally spurred. Flowers tend to have many stamens. Flowers have varying numbers of carpels: 3 in Staphisagria, 3–5 in Aconitum, 6–13 in Gymnaconitum, 1 in Delphinium subg. Consolida, and 3–5 in other subgenera of Delphinium. The flowers are protandrous, meaning that they are male before they are female. Additionally, the flowers are herkogamous: the anthers and stigma are spatially separated. In the western Mediterranean, species tend to be xenogamous. Some species are strictly xenogamous. Others, especially annuals or species in the genus Staphisagria, are more able to self-fertilize. Species that self-fertilize more frequently tend to have less complex flowers with fewer stamens and fewer carpels.