Is this a bindweed seedling?

[TiberiusFlam]

Thanks

I would say yes, it looks like it.

No, it’s a sycamore. It has the long strap like cotyledons of a sycamore, and the first true leaves, which are not as lobed as the later ones will be.

Here are the seed leaves of Calystegia sepium, hedge bindweed

Here are the seed leaves of Calystegia sepium, hedge bindweed much rounder in shape

And here are the seed leaves of field bindweed, again, much more like an Ipomoea, rounded, not strap-like

And finally here are some sycamore seedlings

If it had a long white wiggly worm of a root you could trace under the ground, then bindweed. If it was a normal cluster of fluffier roots, sycamore.

(Examples of all available for viewing in my garden... must do some weeding...)

No, it can not be bindweed because the cotyledons are the wrong shape

Thanks! hopefully it’s sycamore then and not bindweed.

You can be absolutely sure that it's not bindweed, for the reasons I've given you.

Trust @MereDintofPandiculation she absolutely knows her gardening/botany.

Thanks @MereDintofPandiculation that is helpful and reassuring.
The leaves really don’t look like sycamore tho? Is there something else it could be? Would a picture insitu help?

I’ve just been pulling up dozens of sycamore seedlings and they don’t look like that, sorry. They are smooth edged and slim when just coming up but very quickly get secondary serated leaves.

If you think you have bindweed, dig down a bit and look for white roots. The ‘seedlings’ will come up for any stray root and it is really easy to check and pull up but you have to keep at it.

As I said upthread somewhere, the first leaves often don’t have as many lobes as later leaves. It looks exactly like a sycamore of that age to me

Clearly when something is that young, there is scope for confusion. But when sycamore seedlings are so abundant at this time of year, the likelihood is that if it looks like a sycamore, then it is a sycamore.

@spanishviola I can see your point, but I was putting the lack of serration down to the poor focus of the photo. Perhaps a better focused photo would be helpful, OP?

Well I could be wrong! The sycamore seedlings are a pain in the neck around here and I’ve been looking at them all day but it can be hard to tell from a photo. Bindweed is also just coming up now as well, creeping over from next door.

Well I could be wrong! So could I! But I am certain it’s not bindweed.

Here are some more pictures….

the plant app I use says sycamore :)

Ah - that doesn’t look like sycamore! The serrations I imagined were lost in the poor focus aren’t there. Wrong venation too. Looks a bit like an Epimedium leaf, but I’ve not seen an Epimedium seedling. Googling suggests Epimediums dont have those strap shaped cotyledons. Also looks like something else which I can’t bring to mind at the moment.

Still not bindweed

It's Barrenwort

Barrenwort is Epimedium. Epimedium from google appears to have much rounder cotyledons.

Aka epimedium

I can't find any indication of epimedium being a self-seeder either - no seeds for sale either.

Whatever it is, the seeds have come from somewhere. As there's quite a few then probably somewhere close (eg an annual grown nearby) or else something prolific and wind-borne, but in that case (as with sycamore) someone would probably recognise it.

Ok in the interest of science I will let some
grow and report back