I am hoping someone can help me identify this herbaceous plant. Leave opposite, ovate, serrate lobed Stem hollow, root red
Looks like the invasive Impatiens. Either parviflora or glandulifera himalayan-balsam small-spotted-touch-me-not
@rosina says "herbaceous" in the subject line, which should rule that out, though at this stage, it might be difficult to know that. Also note Ron B's comments about the marginal serrations, which rosina described as serrate lobed. Rosina, how do you know this is native? Where is it growing?
I took these photos this morning of a large area of Small Balsam. The leaves of Impatiens parviflora are definitely serrated. In Flora BC the taxonomic keys for I. parviflora include 2 descriptions of the leaves: "...finely and sharply saw-toothed..." and "...coarsely saw-toothed...". The 2 links included in my original reply also describe the leaves as toothed and serrated. A Google Image search will produce 1000's of photos and links all with serrated leaves and slender tips as shown in my photos. The leaves are alternate but it is difficult to see in photos. Could RonB please provide a link showing this to be incorrect?
This isn't contributing to the "what are these leaves" topic of this thread, but I happened today to take a flower photo of Impatiens parviflora that I'm including here just because. It looks almost as large as the leaf, but it's not. Second photo is only to confirm that it's really small.
I had (by chance) uprooted an Impatiens parviflora the other day. While doing some investigation into its adventitious roots, I was looking through a 1965 paper "Plant Growth and the Aerial Environment. IX. A Synopsis of the Autecology of Impatiens parviflora" -- and in it is the explanation of the opposite / alternate leaf arrangement that is causing some confusion: So... that's why the young plant photos posted by original poster have opposite leaf arrangement at the base and are causing confusion when most of the literature records the leaves as being alternately-arranged.
