pink leafed plant ??

I came across this plant underneath a row of pine trees along side the Rideau Canal in Ottawa's Arboretum .... I have no idea what it could be .. I even asked the "Friends of the Farm" and they had no idea either ...

5 palmated pink leaflets

 

I'll guess that it's a horse-chestnut that has a mutation preventing it from producing chlorophyll.

 

You should guard that plant, as it could become the next 'Flamingo'
Toona sinensis 'Flamingo'
http://www.esveld.nl/htmldiaen/c/cesfla.htm

 

if it cannot produce chlorophyll, will it survive once it uses up any reserves in the seed ?

 

It has some pigmentation (likely a carotenoid of some sort), so it isn't without the ability to photosynthesize. It could mature, I suppose, but it may have difficulty competing (in comparison to a plant with a full complement of pigments) since it has reduced sugar production.

 

As you can see in the 'Flamingo' it eventually turns green.
Your tree may or may not turn green later in the year.

 

Ah, yes -- I hadn't considered that... "delayed" production of chlorophyll would indeed be a possibility as well.