White-flowered cultivar of the Japanese columbine, a perennial species of the Ranunculaceae family native to Japan, Korea, and northern China, where it grows in alpine meadows, screes, and rocky cliffs, generally between 1,500 and 3,000 meters in altitude. The type species, with blue-violet to blue-lilac flowers with whitish petals, is one of the most appreciated columbines in horticulture for its compact and stocky habit, so characteristic and so different from the slender silhouette of most other species in the genus.
The 'Alba' cultivar is distinguished by its entirely white flowers, of great luminous purity, retaining the morphology specific to the species: broadly spread sepals, almost horizontal, and short, rounded petals extended by distinctly curved spurs, much shorter and stockier than those of American columbines. The foliage, of a glaucous to bluish green, is also characteristic, with broad, thick, and deeply lobed leaflets, with a dense and compact habit generally not exceeding 20 to 30 cm in height.
Particularly hardy and robust, this cultivar adapts to a wide range of conditions, nevertheless preferring well-drained, fresh, and moderately fertile soil, in a sunny to semi-shaded exposure. Its small size makes it an ideal subject for rock gardens, front borders, Japanese-style gardens, or pot cultivation, where its spring bloom from April to June, of immaculate whiteness, produces a particularly striking effect.