(1) For the first time, the exact crystallographic orientation relationships between HCP-Ni3Sn (α-Ni) subsets were determined for the undercooled Ni-Sn eutectic alloy. (2) For the first time, the formation mechanism and path of HCP-Ni3Sn twins were revealed to show the roles of twinning and allotropy transformation. (3) Twin-assisted eutectic growth indicates that the single nucleation mode of Herlach, which has been queried in undercooled eutectic melts for several decades, is actually the case for the undercooled eutectic alloy. (4) It was showed that primary and secondary coupled eutectic dendrite growth and un-coupled growth of α-Ni and FCC-Ni3Sn might all be the origins of anomalous eutectics. Rapid solidification in undercooled Ni-18.7 at.%Sn eutectic melts was observed in-situ by a high-speed high-resolution camera and the microstructures were characterized in detail by electron backscattering diffraction. For the first time, the exact crystallographic orientation relations (ORs) between HCP-Ni 3 Sn ( α- Ni) subsets were analyzed. For HCP-Ni 3 Sn, the { 11 2 ¯ 1 } < 1 ¯ 1 ¯ 26 > and/or { 11 2 ¯ 2 } < 11 2 ¯ 3 ¯ > twin ORs (i.e., HCP-Ni 3 Sn twins) hold independently on undercooling, whereas for α- Ni, the { 111 } < 11 2 ¯ > twin OR is the case at low undercooling and would hold initially at intermediate and high undercooling. The roles of twinning and allotropy transformation (i.e., FCC-Ni 3 Sn → HCP-Ni 3 Sn) were integrated to reveal the formation mechanism of HCP-Ni 3 Sn twins, and a reversed OR transition analysis was carried out for representative samples from low to high undercooling. Consequently, novel twin-assisted eutectic growth was found to occur all along. On this basis, we showed that the single nucleation mode of Herlach is followed, and speculated that primary and secondary coupled eutectic dendrite growth and un-coupled growth of α- Ni and FCC-Ni 3 Sn might all be the origins of anomalous eutectics. This work would shed some lights on the long-time controversies about the nucleation mode and the formation mechanism of anomalous eutectics in undercooled eutectic alloys.