Hi Mary Sue and all Very interesting. 'Normal' seedlings with the ability to produce chlorophyll turn green when exposed to light. There are some instances where inbreeding results in expression of recessive genes (some breeding lines of Zea mays for example) that are fatal. They made for a great experiment in high school biology class. Do you know if you have a single clone of this species? If so, this may explain why your seedlings lack chlorophyll. If not, perhaps others on the list may be able to offer an explanation. Boyce Tankersley btankers@chicagobotanic.org