Hedlundia thuringiaca

Hedlundia thuringiaca is a widely cultivated species of ornamental shrub. It is cultivated by grafting.

Description

It has purple-grey bark, which is smooth but begins cracking and flaking as it matures. The leaves are narrowly ovate to elliptic long and wide. They are lobed, except at the very tip, the lobes become deeper towards the base, becoming toothed.
The leaves are glossy dark green above and grey and hair underneath. In late spring, it flowers with dense clusters of 5 petaled white flowers, which
are wide. After flowering, it produces a rounded, bright red berry which is wide.

Taxonomy

It is a diploid hybrid between Sorbus aucuparia and the diploid Aria edulis. It is rare in the wild but occurs at scattered sites across much of Europe and Turkey.
It has been introduced in Belgium and Illinois, US.
It was first published in Memoranda Soc. Fauna Fl. Fenn. 93: 34 in 2017.
Germplasm Resources [Information Network|GRIN] accepts it as ×Hedlundia thuringiaca.