{{short description|Species of plant}} {{Italic title}} {{speciesbox |name = crosswort<br>smooth bedstraw |image = (MHNT) Cruciata laevipes - Inflorescence.jpg |image_caption = |taxon = Cruciata laevipes |authority = [[Philipp Maximilian Opiz|Opiz]] |synonyms_ref = <ref name=":0" /> |synonyms = {{Specieslist |Valantia cruciata|L. |Galium cruciata|(L.) Scop. |Galium cruciata'' var. ''laevipes|(Opiz) W.D.J.Koch |Rubia cruciata|(L.) Baill. |Valantia hirsuta|Gilib. |Aparine latifolia|Moench |Galium valantia|G.Gaertn., B.Mey. & Scherb. |Valantia ciliata|Opiz ex J.Presl & C.Presl |Galium glabrifolium|Rochel |Galium cruciata'' var. ''mucronata|Peterm. |Cruciata ciliata|Opiz |Cruciata hirsuta|Fourr. |Galium luteocruciatum|St.-Lag. |Valantia crucialis|Bubani }} }}
'''''Cruciata laevipes''''' is a [[species]] of [[flowering plant]] in the [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] [[Rubiaceae]]. It is commonly known as '''crosswort''', '''smooth bedstraw''' or '''Luc na croise''' in [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=ITIS - Report: Cruciata laevipes|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=Scientific_Name&search_kingdom=every&search_span=exactly_for&categories=All&source=html&search_credRating=All&search_value=Cruciata%20laevipes|access-date=2021-10-08|website=www.itis.gov}}</ref> The Latin epithet ''laevipes'' refers to the smooth stalk.
The common name crosswort is a 16th century translation of the botanists' Latin ''cruciata planta'', meaning "cross plant", i.e., with leaves in a cross-like arrangement.<ref>Grigson G. 1974. ''A Dictionary of English Plant Names''. Allen Lane. {{ISBN|0-71-390442-9}}</ref>
==Description== This perennial sprawling plant can grow to a height of {{convert|15-70|cm|in|0|abbr=on}}, spreads by seeds and [[stolons]] and has, unusually amongst this group,{{clarification needed|reason=which 'group'? What is meant by a 'group'? Rubiaceae are typically bisexual (syn. hermaphrodite)|date=March 2025}} yellow [[Hermaphrodite (botany)|hermaphrodite]] flowers. The inner flowers are male and soon fall off, whilst the outer are bisexual and produce the fruit. The flowers smell of honey. Of the [[Whorl (botany)|whorls]] of four leaves, only two in each group are real leaves, the other two being [[stipule]]s.<ref>Hutchinson, John (1955). ''British Wild Flowers''. Harmondsworth : Penguin. V. 1. p. 211.</ref> It is associated with arbuscular [[mycorrhiza]] that penetrate the cortical cells of the roots. In the [[United Kingdom]] it flowers April to June.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Crosswort {{!}} The Wildlife Trusts|url=https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/crosswort|access-date=2021-10-08|website=www.wildlifetrusts.org}}</ref> Pollination is by [[bees]] and [[Diptera|flies]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cruciata laevipes Crosswort, Smooth bedstraw PFAF Plant Database|url=https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Cruciata+laevipes|access-date=2021-10-08|website=pfaf.org}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== ''Cruciata laevipes'' is found in most of [[Europe]] as well as from northern [[Turkey]], [[Iran]], the [[Caucasus]], and the western [[Himalaya]]s.<ref name="reneepappini">{{Cite web|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|url=https://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=51752|access-date=2021-10-08|website=wcsp.science.kew.org}}</ref> It is also reportedly naturalized in [[Ontario County, New York|Ontario County]] in [[New York State]].<ref>[http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Cruciata%20laevipes.png Biota of North America Program, ''Cruciata laevipes'']</ref> ''Cruciata laevipes'' is found in meadows, road verges, riverbanks, scrub and open woodland, generally on well-drained [[Alkali soils|calcareous soil]]s.<ref>[https://secure.derby.gov.uk/flora/Flora.aspx?SpeciesID=490 The Flora of Derbyshire]{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
==Uses== [[File:Cruciata laevipes closeup.jpg|thumb|right|''C. laevipes'' flowers]] ''Cruciata laevipes'' is little used in herbal medicine today, but it was once recommended as a remedy for rupture, [[rheumatism]] and [[dropsy]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://russianherbs.org/herbs/CROSSWORT.htm |title=Medicinal plants |access-date=2009-05-21 |archive-date=2011-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727224836/http://russianherbs.org/herbs/CROSSWORT.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Bald's Leechbook]] recommended crosswort as a [[Bald's Leechbook#Cures|cure]] for headaches.<ref>Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger August: ''The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium'' Little, Brown, 2000 {{ISBN|0-316-51157-9}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile?symbol=CRLA13 US Department of Agriculture, plants profile, ''Cruciata laevipes'' Opiz, smooth bedstraw] *[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/qsearch.do?plantName=Cruciata ''Cruciata'' in the World Checklist of Rubiaceae] * [http://www.floralimages.co.uk/pcrucilaevi.htm Photograph of ''C. laevipes''] * [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&query_src=photos_flora_sci&where-genre=Plant&where-taxon=Cruciata+laevipes&title_tag=Cruciata+laevipes ''C. laevipes'' photographs] * {{PFAF}}
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