Thalictrums are 'see-through' plants. They have heads of many small flowers, usually without petals, so consisting mainly of stamens and giving an airy appearance, aided by the finely divided foliage, often grey-green. So despite the fact that most of them have no colourful flowers, they are most attractive additions to the garden.

Thalictrum delavayi produces lovely violet flowers with numerous yellow stamens. The petals are usually small, but there are masses of flowers, giving the plants a lovely appearance of a cloud of colour.