This is bizaar. I use placeholder text in forms to helpthe user how & what to input. Placeholders work fine one simple input fields, however, on a textarea the placeholder text just does not want to show up. Well, not at least untill you have entered something. Then and only then, f you delete the text you have entered does the placehold text show up.
I have tried with Collective as well as with raw HTML. Both gives the same result.