A sweetheart around end of date given a plant (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
aloe vera
'plant' is the definition.
The answer is an example.
'a sweetheart around end of date given a' is the wordplay.
'sweetheart' becomes 'lover' (sweetheart can mean a lover).
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'end of' indicates one should take the final letters.
'given' means one lot of letters go next to another.
The final letter of 'date' is 'e'.
'lover' enclosing 'e' is 'loever'.
'a'+'loever'+'a'='ALOE VERA'
(Other definitions for aloe vera that I've seen before include "Succulent" , "Plant substance used in cosmetics" , "cosmetic juice" , "Medicinal plant" , "Cosmetic plant extract" .)