Abstract: Cytology of 12 species in Aconitum L. and of 18 species in Delphinium L. of the tribe Delphineae (Ranunculaceae) from China have been investigated. Only A. crassiflorum is a tetraploid with the chromosome number of 2n = 32, and all the other Aconitum species studied are diploids with 2n = 16. In A. piepunense, up to six B-chromosomes were observed. All the Delphinium species are diploids with 2n = 16; their karyotypes are very similar among the species, and are distinctly distinguishable from those of Aconitum species with respect to the chromosome size, chromosome morphology and karyotype asymmetry. From a cytological view, Delphinium seems to be more advanced than Aconitum, as the karyotypes in Delphinium are more asymmetric than those in Aconi-tum.

Key words: Aconitum L., Delphinium L., Chromosome, Karyotype evolution