Hedlundia thuringiaca is a widely cultivated species of ornamental shrub.

It has purple-grey bark, which is smooth but begins cracking and flaking as it matures.

The leaves are glossy dark green above and grey and hair underneath.

After flowering, it produces a rounded, bright red berry which is 1 cm (0.4 in) wide.

[3] It is rare in the wild but occurs at scattered sites across much of Europe[4] (within Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Romania and Switzerland,[1]) and Turkey.