Gentiana alpina (commonly Alpine gentian) is a plant species from the Gentiana genus in the family Gentianaceae.
The Alpine gentian is a perennial herb that grows to only . The opposite leaves are crowded at the base of the stem . The simple leaf blade is about long and nearly circular. The leaf margins are cartilaginous.
The flowers are individually terminal on the stems. The hermaphrodite flowers are radially symmetric with a double perianth. The five green sepals are fused up to about half their length into a calyx tube, which ends in five ovoid calyx teeth that narrow towards the base. The dark blue crown is an inverted cone with a length of . There are green dots in the crown gullet, the crown lobes are blunt and mostly rounded. G. alpina takes a hemicryptophytic form.
Gentiana alpina is found in the south-west and west of the Middle Alps, the Middle Pyrenees and in the Sierra Nevada of southern Spain. It avoids growing in limestone rocks, and grows at elevations of . In the Alps, G. alpina typically occur in the Caricion curvulae plant association.
Adolf von Kleebsattel created the song âÂÂBlau blüht der EnzianâÂÂ, which became a bestseller thanks to performances by the musician Heino. The song provided the title of a feature film: Blue Blooms the Gentian.