Weed ID - small pointy leaves, reddish stem

[Twilkes]

Any ideas what this is? Grows up to maybe 30cm tall, flowers eventually, hundreds of little ones growing in our garden:



Someone thought it was a form of Impatiens but I can't find any images on the web with any that have as pointy leaves.

[SkrrSkrr]

Looks like big bud to me

[Mr Pointy]

It might be Rosebay Willowherb:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=rosebay+willowherb&t...

If you let it seed you'll have billions of the little blighters.

[Twilkes]

Mr Pointy said:

It might be Rosebay Willowherb:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=rosebay+willowherb&t...

If you let it seed you'll have billions of the little blighters.

If it looks like this when small then I don't think so:

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/Advice/ACEImages//RHS_WSYD0...

It starts off tiny and grows upwards more than it grows outwards - this is another baby and medium-sized one, the leaves are quite sparse going up the stem:



Think we skipped weeding one year and now are paying for it.

[ATG]

Another vote for one of the willow herbs. That photo showing something broad and close to the ground is about to go off like a jack-in-a-box and become a single stemmed, tall, lanky thing.

[Mr GrimNasty]

Yer, definitely one of the smaller growing/flowered ones - take your pick.

http://wildflowerfinder.org.uk/Menu2/Family/Family...

They are very prolific by seed but easy to pull out in the first year, once they start bulking up they can form tough well rooted clumps and start spreading by roots in subsequent years.

[Twilkes]

ATG said:

Another vote for one of the willow herbs. That photo showing something broad and close to the ground is about to go off like a jack-in-a-box and become a single stemmed, tall, lanky thing.

Yeah this came up in a search, pretty much what we have: http://c8.alamy.com/comp/E165RD/canalside-weeds-gr... The other types seem much more showy. But yes, just a 'yank it quick' weed, good news.