Herb takes Virginia to be wild (6)
I believe the answer is:
savage
'be wild' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'herb takes virginia' is the wordplay.
'herb' becomes 'sage' (sage is a kind of herb).
'takes' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'virginia' becomes 'va' (US state abbreviation).
'sage' going around 'va' is 'SAVAGE'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for savage that I've seen before include "Fierce, uncontrolled" , "Violent, uncontrolled" , "Brutally criticise" , "poet who escaped death penalty" , "Ferocious" .)