Origin of botany? (4)
I believe the answer is:
root
'origin' is the definition.
(I know that origin can be written as root)
'of botany?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'rot' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for root that I've seen before include "Reptile" , "Basic source or origin" , "burrow" , "top of tree? Hardly!" , "grub" .)