Stewart Robert Hinsley writes
In message , K
writes
serialthrilla writes
Hello to the group,

Can anyone help me identify this plant/weed, that has currently spread to
roughly 2 feet square.

Here is a picture of 2 separate plants within the area that it covers.

http://www.kingsfamily.co.uk/images/weed.jpg
http://www.kingsfamily.co.uk/images/weed2.jpg

Difficult to tell at this young stage. You say that it has 'currently
spread to roughly 2 ft square' - do you mean this has spread by
runners, or is it more, as appears from the pic, that you have young
seedlings in a 2ft square patch? If the latter, it could be Geum
urbanum, but you'd need to let it grow a bit more to be sure.

The books say that Geum has pinnate leaves, not simple leaves as in the
photos.

Geum does indeed have pinnate leaves. But the first few leaves at
seedling stage are simple. I should know - I grow them by the thousand
;-)

My first thought was ground-ivy (Glechoma),

Doesn't look soft enough

or a speedwell (Veronica). Other possibilities, from scanning
Keble-Martin, are violets (Viola)

Wrong leaf texture again, and outline doesn't look quite right - I think
the edge is too indented - oops, you've said that below.

or dead-nettles (Lamium).

The venation pattern doen't seem to be right for Veronica, the Violas
have acute leaf apices and less prominent marginal crenation, and the
leaves of Glechoma have cordate bases. Assuming that I'm not being
misled by juvenile leaves having a different form from those of the
mature plant,

I think you're being misled ;-)

I'd plump for henbit dead-nettle (Lamium amplexicaule) or northern
dead-nettle (Lamium intermedium). I've never seen either of these -
henbit dead-nettle is commoner in the east, and northern dead-nettle in
Scotland and Ireland. (And I've found that if I want to use my image
files for plant identification I need to take more photographs of leaves.)

IF it wasn't for the fact he's got a two ft square patch of the things,
I'd also be thinking of perhaps Heuchera.

--
Kay