The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word SHRUB
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
S
H
R
U
B
More clues leading to the result SHRUB
- Cultivated bush sheltering rook perhaps?
- Press employee takes hour in identifying woody plant
- Plant for making mixed drink
- Quiet massage? See Jasmine for one!
- Eg Daphne’s quiet massage
- A kind of bush? That’s about right
- . Plant temperature changes in 6 across
- Hollow squash on smooth woody plant
- Fruit cocktail and sandwich?
- Quiet massage for Rosemary?
Buddy explains!

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 SHRUB mean?
SHRUB noun- A woody plant smaller than a tree, and usually with several stems from the same base.
- To lop; to prune.
- (Kenyan English) To mispronounce a word by replacing its consonant sound(s) with another or others of a similar place of articulation.
- A liquor composed of vegetable acid, fruit juice (especially lemon), sugar, sometimes vinegar, and a small amount of spirit as a preservative. Modern shrub is usually non-alcoholic, but in earlier times it was often mixed with a substantial amount of spirit such as brandy or rum, thus making it a liqueur.