The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word BUDDLEIA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
B
U
D
D
L
E
I
A
More clues leading to the result BUDDLEIA
- Short chum sits on meadow, squashing one plant
- Flowering shrub providing garland for religious leader’s hotel
- Plant shoot died, one in meadow
- Plant with sign of new life daughter and I found in open country
- Plant crushing diamonds is horribly audible
- Potential flower perhaps ideal for developing bloom
- Plant’s young growth ailed badly
- Plant Zola and I found in meadow
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Plant" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case plant = buddleia.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 BUDDLEIA mean?
BUDDLEIA noun- A tree or shrub of the genus Buddleja, especially Buddleja davidii, a large ornamental shrub whose lilac flowers attract butterflies.