The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word HELLEBORE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
H
E
L
L
E
B
O
R
E
More clues leading to the result HELLEBORE
- Round campanula flower turned back in present flowering plant
- Romantic poet’s body suffered as winter rose?
- Plant found in bottomless pit by European with drill
- Torment tiresome sort outside electronic plant
- Torment tedious type outside electronic plant
- Agony and ecstasy surrounding York plant
- Flower for hero stupidly pinching gorgeous girl on the way up
- Dig pit first around end of cheese plant
- Suffering pain after consuming oriental plant that’s poisonous
- Hot place on Earth supported flowering plant
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 = hellebore.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 HELLEBORE mean?
HELLEBORE noun- Any of the common garden flowering plants of the genus Helleborus, in family Ranunculaceae, having supposed medicinal properties.
- A toxic extract of certain false hellebores (Veratrum album or Veratrum viride), formerly used as a pesticide.