> Sounds like an albino to me but I have never heard of this before
> in plants.
> Does this make sense?
> If it is an albino, is it doomed to a short life because of the lack
> of chlorophyll?
Sounds like an albino plant to me, unless the seedling was raised
in darkness.
It happens fairly often, but the plants usually die as soon
they have expended all the energy in the seed. If you'd like to save
it, you could try grafting it onto a mature tree of the same variety.
This is how they get those brightly colored "moon" cactuses
(Gymnocalycium sp.) at the nursery. These are albino mutations grafted
onto a host rootstock. A normal plant is purplish-green, but since the
chlorophyll is absent in the albino, the plant takes on a bright
purple-red or orange color.
-- Rick