The fhy3 mutation of Arabidopsis impairs phytochrome A (phyA)-mediated inhibition of hypocotyl growth without affecting the levels of phyA measured spectrophotometrically or immunochemically. We investigated whether the fhy3-1 mutation has similar effects on very low fluence responses (VLFR) and high irradiance responses (HIR) of phyA. When exposed to hourly pulses of far-red light, etiolated seedlings of the wild type or of the fhy3-1 mutant showed similar inhibition of hypocotyl growth, unfolding of the cotyledons, anthocyanin synthesis, and greening upon transfer to white light. In the wild type, continuous far-red light was significantly more effective than hourly far-red pulses (at equal total fluence). In the fhy3-1 mutant, hourly pulses were as effective as continuous far-red light, i.e. the failure of reciprocity typical of HIR was not observed. Germination was similarly promoted by continuous or pulsed far-red in wild-type and fhy3-1 seeds. Thus, for hypocotyl growth, cotyledon unfolding, greening, and seed germination, the fhy3-1 mutant retains VLFR but is severely impaired in HIR. These data are consistent with the idea that VLFR and HIR involve divergent signaling pathways of phyA.