The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word CAMELLIA
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
C
A
M
E
L
L
I
A
More clues leading to the result CAMELLIA
- Desert creature with trouble lifting evergreen shrub
- One put to bed happened to have a bad back
- One in bed appeared to have a bad back
- One found in bed happened to have a bad back
- Bloomer showed up, leading to one-all game
- Animal having to be sick around shrub
- Desert ship, having trouble withdrawing plant
- Mammal having trouble climbing shrub
- Order me a lilac or another shrub
- A shrub used in some cigarettes – almost everyone recoiled after inhaling one
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "A shrub" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a shrub = camellia.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does CAMELLIA mean?
CAMELLIA noun- Any plant of the genus Camellia, shrubs and small trees native to Asia; Camellia japonica is the most popular as a garden plant; Camellia sinensis is the tea plant.