I am not one to comment on rumors , but scuttlebutt has it that George Hamilton was bitten by a Triffid when he was a child.

More often than not, children ask the right questions, here is a fine example and the answer is just what we needed:

Why do trees need sunlight? An environmental scientist explains photosynthesis

Photosynthesis is the key to plant's respiration and nutrition cycle. Key to the process or chloroplasts in the cells which use chlorophyll to transform water and CO2 into sugars. One of the persistent questions for sci-fi world-builders is does chlorophyll have to be green? The answer to that question is tricky, and it might to be linked to the spectral class of the star that they evolve under.

Every star's output is unique. It is no surprise that our G class Sun evolved green chlorophyll because green is right in the middle of our star's blackbody curve. This might suggest that other types of stars might evolve different colors of chlorophyll analogues. For hotter A class stars, the chlorophyll analog might be purple or a cooler M star might evolve a chlorophyll analog that is red or operates in the infra-red.