A Botanist Weighs In Of If Baby Groot Is Original Groot

It turns out Teenage Groot is actually the original Groot's son, but a Botanist says that may not [...]

By Matthew Aguilar

It turns out Teenage Groot is actually the original Groot's son, but a Botanist says that may not completely be the case.

Ever since a piece of Groot was recovered and spawned Baby Groot in the original Guardians, fans have been divided on if he is the actual Groot reborn or the offspring of Groot. James Wong, who is a Botanist by trade, decided to analyze the evidence with a rundown of "THE BIOLOGY OF BABY GROOT. ⬇️."

"Baby Groot is created from a cutting of Groot, an ambulant alien plant who dies at the end of the 1st Guardians of the Galaxy movie," Wong wrote. "Geeks are hotly debating whether he is a 'son' of Grootor just Groot living on. Botanist to the rescue..."

"Baby Groot is the result of a form of asexual reproduction known as vegetative propagation," Wong continued. "Plants, unlike most animals, retain their stem cells through their lives. So cloning them is super easy. Baby Groot is therefore a perfect genetic clone of Big Groot."

So he's a clone, but there are still some other factors to consider.

"'Son's' tend to only share 1/2 their DNA with their parents. So this analogy is tricky. Genetically they are one and the same, more like identical twins. (Unless, of course, Baby Groot was actually grown from the pollen/spores/seeds emitted by Groot in the crash landing scene?). If it was indeed pollen in that scene, it would suggest there is a mysterious 'Lady Groot' character we have so far not seen. However, as many (most?) plants are simultaneously male and female, it is highly likely that we all have our pronouns wrong here!"

"And finally, as we now know even Earth plants can process complex information about the world around them & retain it without the need for a centralized storage organ like animals need (ie a brain). If Baby Groot is a cutting, it is likely it retains Big Groot's memories!😱

"And if you are cross about this thread proposing a speculative hypothesis about fictional, alien exobiology....Congrats! You are even more of a geek than me. 🌿🌴🔬"

So, Teen Groot is more likely a clone than a son, but he also might actually still have all the memories of the original Groot. For context, here is what Guardians director James Gunn had to say about the subject.

"I also mentioned to folks who...kept throwing the Groot revival in my face, that that example doesn't really work because Groot is dead," Gunn wrote on Facebook. "Although I don't necessarily think it's obvious in Vol. 1, it's important to say that if you exploded and a little glob of you started growing into a baby, I would not assume that baby was you." He added later "First Groot is dead. Baby Groot is his son."

So, which side do you agree with? Let us know in the comments below!

Marvel Studios' Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War are in theaters now. It will be followed by Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6, 2018, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.

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