Bucklandiella nivalis is described as a new species from two high-alpine localities in the Hohe Tauern in the Eastern Alps of Austria. The species is known only in the sterile state but it produces abundant axillary gemmae which have hitherto only been recorded from the Japanese B. vulcanicola. Both species are closely related but B. nivalis differs from B. vulcanicola in having uniseriate gemmae composed of 3−5(−7), mostly non-septate cells (vs. globular gemmae forming 4-celled clusters); stronger costae, usually 80−100 μm wide near the base (vs. weaker costae, 45−75 μm wide); epilose leaves (vs. piliferous leaves, with hair-points 0.3−0.7 mm long); (1−)2(−3)-stratose leaf margins (vs. unistratose margins with occasional bistratose spots); often variously bistratose laminal cells near the apex (vs. entirely unistratose laminal cells throughout). A new section, Bucklandiella sect. Gemmiferae, is established to accommodate B. nivalis and B. vulcanicola.