Typically compact and domed, the plant has a few upswept branches and the leaves have an almost-white underside.

The hermaphrodite cream-white flowers appear in May, are insect pollinated, and go on to produce scarlet berries, which are often eaten by birds.

[3] It is native to most of Europe as well as North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia) and temperate Asia (Eastern Turkey, Armenia, Georgia).

[4] It generally favours dry limestone and chalk soils.

The cultivars A. edulis 'Lutescens',[5] with very whitish-green early leaves, and A. edulis 'Majestica',[6] with large leaves, have both gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.