Please help me identify this weed.

[EggplantVestibule]

Over the last two months or so, these weeds have popped up around one of my borders. They seem to be concentrated around the base of the trees and are now spreading. I have searched all over the internet to find a picture of something similar, to no avail. I wondered if you know
Knowledgeable folks might have an idea please?

looks like a variant of clematis

are the stems sappy and easily snapped or more woody?

They snap quite easily, not woody at all. I'm hoping it's something nice, not something that might be a nightmare. Thank you.

Looks a bit like himalayan balsam in which case id pull it all up thouroughly before it flowers as it is huge and the most prolific seeder ever - a very invasive weed in my part of the country (west). The flowers are pretty if you like that sort of thing but It just forms massive smothering thickets and the seed pods shoot the seeds a looong way. Get ri is my advice, and don't make the mistake of leaving even one. Luckily it pulls up easily, and should be put off floweung even if you are just mowing over it.

Of course, it could be something else!

when you say it is spreading, do you mean the original plant is growing and trailing along or that new plants are dotting up in different places?

I thought it was Himalayan balsam at first look but I'm not 100% sure - especially the middle photo.

If it is (the flowers are really distinctive, purple helmet shaped) then DO NOT LET IT SEED. It's a major problem in the countryside, spreads very readily both because of its explosive seed heads and along water courses. It's not a native so there are no natural controls, it outcompetes most native plants leaving swathes of monoculture. Bees like the pollen but I'm not sure it supports much else. I do volunteering on a local nature reserve, and the main task over the summer is pulling and 'bashing' balsam.

I thank you, I don't think it's Himalayan balsam, the leaves are smooth, not serrated and look more like basil leaves, but without the smell and it's a lot smaller than Himalayan balsam. It's popping up all over, not trailing or creeping. Having done a bit of research it looks like some sort of balsam type plant as hit has flowers along the actual stem. I wonder if it's from the birdseed that I've had on the bird table in that area. The birds are nesting in the trees above and could have easily spread it. Looking back at past photos, it seems to have been there each year, I just hadn't noticed it until now, so I don't think it's spreading fast. The previous owners had the back border as a "wildlife haven" ie filled with bits of wood and wild plants. I'm still finding things in it three years on. We found a hidden water feature last year!

I'd wondered if those were flowers down the stem, the photo wasn't quite clear enough to be sure.

What colour are they? Might it be Small balsam?

wildflowerfinder.org.uk/Flowers/B/Balsam(Small)/Balsam(Small).htm

There's also an orange balsam (impatiens capensis) and a native 'touch me not' balsam en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impatiens_noli-tangere. The latter is apparently rare.

I hadn't realised balsams were in the impatiens family, makes sense with those explosive seed heads.

Ooh how interesting, I missed the little flowers. possibly not himalayan then - you'd definitely have noticed that if the same stuff grew last year, its massive!

It's not a leaf that I recognise as being a native UK flower, so I think it's definitely worth growing to see what it develops into. If those are flowers down the stem, then a close-up of the flower might enable us to get it to family, even if we don't recognise the species.