crosswort
(ˈkrɒswɜːt, ˈkrɔːs-)
[cross- 3 + wort.]
1. A name of various plants having leaves arranged in the form of a cross, or whorl of four; esp. Galium cruciatum (also crosswort bedstraw); also of the non-British plants Vaillantia cruciata, Eupatorium perfoliatum, and the genus Crucianella. crosswort gentian, Gentiana cruciata.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens iv. lxxvii. 541 Croswort is a pale greene herbe, drawing nere to a yellow Popingay colour..The leaues be..smal..alwayes foure growing togither..in fashion lyke to a Crosse at euery ioynt. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. c. §3. 352 Crossewoort Gentian. 1756 Watson in Phil. Trans. XLIX. 853 Crosswort or Mugweed. 1866 Treas. Bot. 352 Crucianella, a genus of herbaceous plants, called Crosswort and Petty Madder. |
2. pl. A book-name for the family Cruciferæ (plants with cruciform flowers).
| 1861 Mrs. Lankester Wild Flowers 29 [A] very extensive and useful family of plants—Cruciferæ or Crossworts. 1884 Miller Plant-n., Cross-wort, any cruciferous plant. |