“Short of Aphrodite, there is nothing lovelier on this planet than
a flower, nor more essential than a plant. The true matrix of
human life is the green sward covering mother earth. Without
green plants we would neither breathe nor eat. On the undersurface of every leaf a million movable lips are engaged in
devouring carbon dioxide and expelling oxygen. All together,
twenty-five million square miles of leaf surface are daily
engaged in this miracle of photosynthesis, producing oxygen
and food for man and beast.”
Secret Life of Plants
by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird