A synthetic flower looking very white? (9)
I believe the answer is:
alabaster
'white?' is the definition.
(alabaster is a kind of white)
'a synthetic flower looking very' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
'flower' could be 'aster' (aster is a kind of flower) and 'aster' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'lab' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for alabaster that I've seen before include "Altar base (anag)" , "Blast area for white mineral" , "White or translucent mineral" , "Carved form of gypsum" , "White stone carved into ornaments" .)