How might the rapid growth, seen in seedlings grown in the dark, be beneficial to plants?

Question

How might the rapid growth, seen in seedlings grown in the dark, be beneficial to plants?

Answer 1

The rapid growth you're referring to is called "etiolation". Plants essentially aren't getting enough nutrients in the dark to survive so to maximize their photosynthetic potential they elongate themselves to maximize their surface area (thus allowing more photosynthetic sites).

It's beneficial in that it allows the plant with a means of survival...though I wouldn't recommend doing this as it's not a very "healthy" means of survival...most etiolation results in weak stems and leaves and unhealthy plants.

Example: http://biology.uwsp.edu/courses/botlab/i...

Good luck :)

Answer 2

If the seedling is covered by something, it has a limited amount of time and energy to find sunlight. It sacrifices a strong healthy stem to save itself.