Cruciata pedemontana

Template:Italic title Template:Taxobox Cruciata pedemontana, the Piedmont bedstraw, is a species of plants in the Rubiaceae. It is native to the southern and central Europe, the Black Sea Basin, and southwestern and Central Asia from Turkey to Iran to Kazakhstan. It is also naturalized in parts of the United States (south-central and eastern parts from Texas to New York, plus the northwest from Washington and Oregon to Montana).<ref name="judydelph">Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Cruciata pedemontana</ref><ref>Biota of North America Program, Cruciata pedemontana</ref><ref>Altervista Flora Italiana, Crocettona comune, Cruciata pedemontana</ref>

Cruciata pedemontana is an erect herb up to 30 cm tall, covered with stiff hairs. Leaves are broadly ovate, usually 4 per node. Flowers are tiny, rarely more than 1 mm across, axillary, pale yellow.<ref>Flora Vascular, Flora Iberica, </ref>

Varieties

Two varieties are recognized (as of May 2014):<ref name="judydelph"/>

• Cruciata pedemontana var. pedemontana
• Cruciata pedemontana var. procumbens (Asch.) Soó - France and Italy (including Corsica and Sardinia)

External links

• US Department of Agriculture plants profile,
• US Department of Agriculture, National Forest Service, weed of the week,
• Vanderbilt University, Piedmont bedstraw
• Flore Alpes, Croisette du Piémont
• Flora Acta Plantarum,
• Botany Czech, svízelka piemontská / krížavka piemontská
• Flora-On, Portugal,
• Botanik im Bild / Flora von Österreich, Liechtenstein und Südtirol, Piemont-Kreuzlabkraut / Piemonteser Kreuzlabkraut
• Discover Life,
• Southeastern Flora,
• Eastern Washington University, Flora of Eastern Washington and Adjacent Idaho,
• Botanische Spaziergaenge, Bilder von Österreichs Flora, Cruciata pedemontana / Piemont- Kreuzlabkraut
• Eastern Forests Threat Center, Piedmont bedstraw