{{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 = 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 Rubiaceae. It is commonly known as '''crosswort''', '''smooth bedstraw''' or '''Luc na croise''' in 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 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 whorls of four leaves, only two in each group are real leaves, the other two being stipules.<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 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 Himalayas.<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 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 calcareous soils.<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== 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 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}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q159244}}
Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Rubieae Category:Herbs Category:Medicinal plants of Europe Category:Flora of Belgium Category:Flora of Sardinia Category:Flora of Corsica Category:Flora of France Category:Flora of Great Britain Category:Flora of Austria Category:Flora of the Czech Republic Category:Flora of Germany Category:Flora of Hungary Category:Flora of Switzerland Category:Flora of the Netherlands Category:Flora of Poland Category:Flora of Portugal Category:Flora of Spain Category:Flora of Kosovo Category:Flora of Albania Category:Flora of Bulgaria Category:Flora of Italy Category:Flora of Greece Category:Flora of Romania Category:Flora of Turkey Category:Flora of Iran Category:Flora of New York (state) Category:Flora of Serbia Category:Flora of Croatia Category:Flora of Ukraine Category:Flora of Russia Category:Flora of Azerbaijan Category:Flora of Georgia (country) Category:Flora of Armenia Category:Flora without expected TNC conservation status