ahhh - i guess you have imported the plant directly into the ecosystem. Then you are right, there is always a link to the "original" data (3ds here i guess) and therefore there can be problems. Normally you would get a message when you try to open the scene, if these data are inside an ecosystem it could be different. I never tried it.

To avoid all that i noramlly do the following. I import the item, save the object then as vob (best with embedded bitmaps) and use this vob then for future work. In the case of an XFrog plant that you maybe want to use more often anyway this even make more sense - you gain a preview image and never again have to worry about texture bitmaps.

One day your ship comes in - but you're at the airport.