Consolida is a genus of about 40 species of annual flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native to western Europe, the Mediterranean and Asia. Phylogenetic studies show that Consolida is actually an annual clade nested within the genus Delphinium[1][2] and it has been treated as a synonym of Delphinium in Kew's Plants of the World Online.[3] The name of the genus comes from an archaic use of consolidation, meaning "healing", in reference to the plant's medieval use for healing wounds.[4]
Consolida differs from other species of Delphinium (mostly perennials) in the flower structure, with only one united petal, rather than the four separate petals (or more in cultivars) found in other delphiniums, and in the fruit, which comprises a single follicle, instead of a cluster of 3–5 together.
It is a popular garden plant and cut flower, grown from seed every year, with numerous cultivars in shades of pink, blue, purple and white.[5] In seed catalogues it is usually labelled as larkspur, a common name referring to the shape of the spurred calyx, with "delphinium" reserved for its perennial relatives.