In morphological and biochemical studies we demonstrated that the development of eight-day old dark-grown beán seedlings was drastically influenced by prolonged irradiation with far red (FR) irradiation. The synthetic processes associated with leaf expansion were fiilly active, but the accumulation of chJorophyll (Chl) was very slow and the development of the photosynthetic apparatus was much prolonged. The capacity for oxygen evolution and photophosphorylation began at about the 2''‘* day. Low temperature spectroscopy showed the accumulation of three Chl a forms with absorption maxima at 670, 677 and 683 nm from the veiy beginning of the greening process and the appearance of two longer wavelength forms (with maxima at 690 and 698 nm) at the onset of photosynthetic activity. Electron microscopy showed unfiised stacks of primary thylakoids without grana formation. When the FR treated seedlings were subsequently placed in "white light", grana differentiated from these primary thylakoids.