Gentiana algida
Arctic gentian

Alaska Wildflowers | White

Gentiana algida
Arctic gentian

Common Names

Arctic gentian
whitish gentian
gentiane des milieux froids

Synonyms

Dasystephana romanzovii
Gentiana frigida var. algida
Gentiana romanzovii
Gentianodes algida

Subspecies

Gentiana algida var. algida
Gentiana algidavar. purdomii

Genus: Gentiana
Family: Gentianaceae (Gentian family, gentianes)
Order: Gentianales
taxonomic heirarchy

Etymology

The genus name Gentiana is a tribute to the last Illyrian king, Gentius, who ruled in the second century BCE. According to Pliny and Dioscorides, Gentius discovered the medicinal value of plants in the Gentian family (Gentianaceae). The attribution is likely a case of folk etymology, but the word is still possibly Illyrian. Linnaeus formalized the family and genus in 1753.

The species epithet algida is the feminine form of the Latin algidus, “cold,” making Gentiana algida “cold gentian.” This is likely just a statement that the plant lives in cold environments.

The common name follows the same idea as the scientific name, Arctic gentian, after the cold habitat that it lives in. It is also known as whitish gentian, after the pale, white, and blue-streaked flowers.

The species was described by German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas (1741-1811). He led a scientific expedition across the Volga and Urals into western Siberia, the Altai, and Transbaikalia between 1768 and 1774, returning with an enormous haul of specimens. He published the illustrated survey of Russian Plants in Flora Rossica in 1788 under Catherine the Great.

Duration – Growth Habit

Perennial – Forb/Herb

Identification and Information

Vegetative Morphology

Gentiana algida is a 4-20 cm (1.5 to 8 inches) tall perennial herb that grows from a 2-5 mm thick caudex covered in leaf bases. It has 1 to a few yellowish-green stems that rise laterally below rosettes. The rosette leaves are linear-oblong, 2-10 cm long, and 1-nerved (FNA states narrowly spatulate). Cauline leaves are oblanceolate to lanceolate, or linear, and smaller than the basal leaves, 2-5 cm long.

Reproductive Morphology

The inflorescence is 1-3-flowered. The calyx is 15-28 mm long with linear to lanceolate lobes. The funnelform corolla twice or more as long as the calyx, is creamy or white, abaxially suffused with blue-violet on and below the lobes. The inside is white or yellowish white with dark purple and/or greenish spots. The filaments are narrowly triangular.

Uses

For information only (typically historical) – I take no responsibility for adverse effects from the use of any plant.

No traditional, medicinal, or culinary uses were found.

Distribution and Habitat

Map data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), NatureServe Explorer, and Kew

Gentiana algida lives in meadows, Arctic tundra, and stony mountain slopes, up to 4000 m (13,000 ft) in elevation (Hulten states at least up to 1500 m). FNA states that it is restricted to higher elevations south of the Arctic.

It’s found in Alaska, the Yukon, and the Rocky Mountain states in the United States, but absent from the Canadian Rockies, leaving a gap between Montana and the Yukon. Across Asia, it ranges from Central Asia and Siberia east to Mongolia, China, Korea, and Japan, and south into the Himalaya.

Classification

References and Further Reading

Guidebook

Pratt, V. E. (1989). Field Guide to Alaskan Wildflowers: Commonly Seen Along Highways and Byways (p. 57). Alaskakrafts, inc.

Johnson, D., Kershaw, L., & MacKinnon, A. (2020). Plants of the Western Forest: Alaska to Minnesota Boreal and Aspen Parkland (3rd ed., p. 71). Partners Publishing. ISBN 978-1772130591.

Brandenburg, D. M. 2010. National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Wildflowers of North America. Sterling Publishing. (p. 193)

Classification and Taxonomy

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (n.d.). Gentiana algida. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved August 16, 2026, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:367731-1

Brouillet, L., Coursol, F., Meades, S. J., Favreau, M., Anions, M., Bélisle, P., & Desmet, P. (n.d.). Gentiana algida. Database of Vascular Plants of Canada (VASCAN). Canadensys. Retrieved August 16, 2026, from https://data.canadensys.net/vascan/taxon/5993?lang=en

Integrated Taxonomic Information System. (n.d.). Gentiana algida (TSN 29966). Retrieved August 16, 2026, from https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=29966#null

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. (n.d.). Gentiana algida (GEAL2). PLANTS Database. Retrieved August 16, 2026, from https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/plant-profile/GEAL2

Etymology

Wiktionary contributors. (n.d.). Gentian. Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gentian

Grieve, M. (1931). Gentians. A Modern Herbal. https://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/g/gentia08.html

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Gentianaceae. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentianaceae

Wiktionary contributors. (n.d.). Algidus. Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/algidus

Global Plants. (n.d.). Pallas, Peter (Pyotr) Simon von (1741–1811). JSTOR. https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.person.bm000391015

Map and Distribution

NatureServe. (n.d.). Gentiana algida. NatureServe Explorer. Retrieved August 16, 2026, from https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.149756/Gentiana_algida

GBIF Secretariat. (n.d.). Gentiana algida (GBIF Taxon 3FLQ4). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Retrieved August 16, 2026, from https://www.gbif.org/taxon/3FLQ4

Description and Information

Hultén, E. (1968). Flora of Alaska and Neighboring Territories: A Manual of the Vascular Plants (1st ed.) (pg. 754). Stanford University Press.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee. (n.d.). Gentiana algida. Flora of North America. Retrieved August 16, 2026, from https://floranorthamerica.org/Gentiana_algida