艾莉认为，人们对植物非常幼稚。他们只是选择了植物外观，因为他们会为墙壁选择图片。他们从来没有想到植物实际上是生物，忙于执行呼吸，摄入，排泄，繁殖的所有生活功能。
(People were so naive about plants, Ellie thought. They just chose plants for appearance, as they would choose a picture for the wall. It never occurred to them that plants were actually living things, busily performing all the living functions of respiration, ingestion, excretion, reproduction---and defense.)