Datasets for paper "Comparative analyses of plastid genome and its phylogenetic implications in trib. Delphinieae (Ranunculaceae)"

Tribe Delphinieae (Ranunculaceae) has long presented phylogenetic and taxonomic challenges. This study integrates 60 newly sequenced and 57 existing plastid genomes (117 total) to construct a robust evolutionary framework for the tribe. Our analyses reveal that, in stark contrast to the frequent rearrangements in related Ranunculaceae lineages, Delphinieae plastomes exhibit exceptional structural conservation. The plastid phylogenomic framework resolves long-standing controversies, as all major intergeneric relationships are resolved with maximum support (BS=100, PP=1.0), unequivocally placing the annual genus Staphisagria as the earliest-diverging lineage, sister to the remaining tribe, and establishing Gymnaconitum as the sister genus to Delphinium. This topology challenges the traditional view of life-history evolution by strongly supporting a transition from an annual to a perennial habit within the tribe, a hypothesis corroborated by the annual nature of its outgroups. Divergence time estimates indicate that the major radiations of the two largest subgenera, Aconitum subg. Aconitum and Delphinium subg. Delphinastrum, occurred during the mid-to-late Miocene, coinciding with major geological events and climatic shifts. These findings provide a definitive phylogenetic backbone for Delphinieae, clarify its life-history evolution, and link its diversification to key geological events. The conserved plastomes, alongside identified hypervariable regions, offer a foundation for future systematic and population-level research in this ecologically and medicinally important tribe.