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Anther volatiles of 12 Ranunculaceae species distributed in six genera (Anemone, Aquilegia, Caltha, Pulsatilla, Ranunculus, and Trollius) were investigated by thermal desorption of anthers in quartz microvials inserted into a modified injector. Chemical analysis (GC‐MS) yielded a total of 116 compounds from which 103 compounds could be identified. A great diversity of compounds was observed, including aliphatic compounds, aromatics, mono‐ and sesquiterpenoids, and nitrogen‐bearing compounds. Intraspecific variation in the chemical profiles was significantly lower than interspecific variation. Eight compounds explained 96.1% of the observed total variation between the taxa: protoanemonin, octanal, (E,E)‐α‐farnesene, 2‐phenyl ethanol, pentadecane, α‐muurolene, phenyl acetaldehyde, and linalool oxide (pyranoid) were either present only in specific taxa or varied greatly in their relative amount between …