Fans have long speculated how exactly Groot, the walking, talking, and charmingly imbecilic tree played by Vin Diesel in the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers movies was able to regrow himself — well, kinda himself — after nobly sacrificing his life in the original film. Now, a botanist named James Wong has answered that question and then some by offering a deep dive on tree biology and the arboriculture necessary to raise a Baby Groot into a Teen Groot into a Groot Groot.
When Guardians of the Galaxy hit theatres in 2014, Groot was inarguably one of the most memorable characters. Still, there were questions. James Gunn, the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, has answered a few. Groot is definitely dead. Baby Groot is definitely his “son.” Still, the scientific explanation for this was never really hashed out to the satisfaction of the Guardians nerdy fanbase. No worries. Wong’s tweetstorm makes it all perfectly clear.
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.
Geeks are hotly debating whether he is a ‘son’ of Groot or just Groot living on.
Botanist to the rescue… pic.twitter.com/7NqKI65M9l
— James Wong (@Botanygeek) May 7, 2018
Baby Groot is the result of a form of asexual reproduction known as vegetative propagation.
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. pic.twitter.com/l5Dqaw4DCZ
— James Wong (@Botanygeek) May 7, 2018
‘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?) pic.twitter.com/nLxjiwphwA
— James Wong (@Botanygeek) May 7, 2018
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! pic.twitter.com/oHysGBS6RX
— James Wong (@Botanygeek) May 7, 2018
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. 🌿🌴🔬 pic.twitter.com/XSECg3STDZ
— James Wong (@Botanygeek) May 7, 2018
Even though Wong’s explanation was sufficiently down to Earth, it was far from enough to quell the internet’s speculation. Naturally, the discourse that followed his post was twice as confusing. The whole conversation immediately dovetailed into a long-winded and overly philosophical—but slightly fun— chat about “personal identity.”
This a philosophical question of personal identity. I’d argue that he can’t be the same Groot because no two things can truly be identical: there’s only one Groot. As for being a bro, you know the botanic theory. But is Groot still Groot after? Gets messy. I’d argue it’s neither.
— James Clark Ross Ⓥ (@JamesClarkRoss) May 7, 2018
"because no two things can truly be identical"
Congratulations, you are begging the question.
— doleful moo of acab (@bnwlfsnNYT) May 7, 2018
Not really. Groot’s identity, however you define it, is a *unique* property of his person. That is, there is one identity. If there are two Groots, they cannot, by the definition of identity, be numerically identical.
— James Clark Ross Ⓥ (@JamesClarkRoss) May 7, 2018
I'd grant that if there were two Groots simultainiuslt, but we're seeing a contium here. Assuming the memories pass through, Groots identity as we generally define it remains. He may be changed, but it's more akin to a life trauma change than a whole seperate being
— 🐦 Stella Covus, having a really hard day (@StellaCorvus) May 8, 2018
Okay. This conversation is slightly less fun now. Still, what might be even less fun is waiting until the end of the next Avengers movie in 2019 to find out about the future of the Groot family — such as it is.
