Soldier and sailor of renown producing magical plant? (8)
I believe the answer is:
mandrake
'plant?' is the definition.
(mandrake is a kind of plant)
'soldier and sailor' is the wordplay.
'soldier' becomes 'man' (man can mean a soldier).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'sailor' becomes 'Drake' (explorer Sir Francis Drake).
'man'+'drake'='MANDRAKE'
'of renown producing magical' is the link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mandrake that I've seen before include "Poisonous plant or cartoon magician" , "Root used in medicine" , "Poisonous plant once thought to have magical powers" , "May apple" , "A plant; mean, dark (anag.)" .)