Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday pooh-poohed claims that Australia now has the world’s largest plant after the discovery of a self-cloning seagrass off the coast of the continent that has grown to roughly three times the size of Manhattan island.

“Australia is vainly professing that a self-cloning underwater sea grass forest is even larger than Colorado’s world-class Aspen groves,” Polis said in a statement. “We don’t know what’s going on down under but up at our elevation we know Colorado’s gorgeous Aspen groves are a sight to behold and are the world’s largest plant.” 

The governor noted that Utah and Colorado both claim to be the home to the largest plant in the world. Utah’s Pando Aspen grove consists of 106 acres, but Polis said Colorado’s Kebler Pass Aspen Grove is possibly even larger.

Aspen groves are connected through a common root system, with trees akin to an offshoot of effectively a vast underground organism. 

Polis offered four reasons to insist Colorado maintains the title of having the largest plant in the world. Notably, he cited reports that the Australian seagrass shows “very subtle mutations in the plant’s genetics.” That confirms, the governor said, that the seagrass “is not one, single plant organism.”    

Polis also argued for factoring in the mass of the organism and not just the area covered.

“Aspen trees and root systems are for more massive than wispy sea grasses,” the governor said.