Jewelweed (seedling)

How cool :) I'm learning something new every day.

Gaia80, many plants do start with two twin leaves, but not that many in the Northeast start with them this shape. The notch at the edge of each leaf is somewhat distinctive from my own experience. And mauna, that sounds like a good idea. I didn't really look into additional Impatiens for New York, but I have become accustomed to watching these pop up in the spring in Maine.

This image appears to be a dead-ringer for pallida, but since the plant in my spotting is still a seedling, I’m gonna leave the ID as Impatiens:
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/ud...

Thanks for the ID, Machi! Visually, the primary leaves look more similar to I. pallida than I. capensis. However, there are two more Impatiens species in NY, so I think it’d be a bit tricky to definitively narrow it down. I’m satisfied with Impatiens species in a genus of over 1000 species, lol.

Gaia80, that’s a great point. I wish I could follow up on its growth but, sadly, the area is currently inaccessible to me.

I'm not saying otherwise but a lot of plants start with these two primary leafs, they could look very similar to each other, but once the secondary leafs sprout you'll see what kind of plant it is. I'm not saying I'm an expert, only an observation I've had during life. :)

Possibly Impatiens capensis, but we also have Impatiens pallida. I find Impatiens capensis a lot in Maine, but I have never found I. pallida even though it grows there because it is not as common.