A seedling with three (instead of two) cotyledons

Question

I started 44-cell tray of Echinacea angustifolia several weeks ago. I noticed the other day that a seedling in one of cells has three cotyledons:

Is that normal?

This is a cell with two "normal" seedlings:

Note: You probably noticed that root and cotyledons of some of seedling lifted its seed in the air. That is, I gather, a normal consequence of shallow seed placement, not directly related to this question.

Answer 1

It happens occasionally - not uncommon in chilli pepper, tomatoes and cannabis plants. It doesn't seem to confer any advantage and usually, the seedling continues to grow normally, with two true leaves when they appear, although occasionally, three true leaves appear and you get a more branched plant, albeit usually slower growing and not so tall. Just one of those genetic/hormonal blips that happen occasionally - it will be interesting to see how it progresses.