Dustin's eyes glitter with interest. He'd theorized that the non-native species present in Temba and Sh'Ka would only radiate so far, considering how few of them are shared between locations (and how drastically they're affected by the storms, according to the Funfronds), so the fact that the flora outside of the cities do better is not surprising to hear. Something to keep in mind when he and Felwinter finally go exploring later.

What is surprising is the realization that the Queen is talking about a whole other species of sapient plant. 'Flowering kin' wasn't just a reference to a specific Barry tender - that's an entirely different civilization somewhere outside of the cities she's talking about, and apparently has collaborated with at some point. How many...?

With a start, Dustin realizes that he shouldn't just be speculating about this internally. [--How many others are there?] he asks, then quickly elaborates, [Civilizations native to this planet, I mean. We cannot travel far, either, so we've only encountered your people and the...Fungi-species.]