A container like this for the plant (8)
I believe the answer is:
acanthus
'the plant' is the definition.
(acanthus is a kind of plant)
'a container like this' is the wordplay.
'container' becomes 'can' (can is a kind of container).
'like this' becomes 'thus' (I've seen this before).
'a'+'can'+'thus'='ACANTHUS'
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for acanthus that I've seen before include "Growth" , "Ridicule" , "Leaf, sometimes carved on furniture" , "Plant with prickly leaves" , "Bush?" .)