At first you're all nervous, giving the Zulu elder a flower (7)
I believe the answer is:
yangtze
'a flower' is the definition.
(Yangtze River is an example)
'at first you're all nervous giving the zulu elder' is the wordplay.
'at first' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letters of 'youre all nervous giving the zulu elder' is 'YANGTZE'.
(Other definitions for yangtze that I've seen before include "Chinese river; get zany (anag.)" , "Asia's longest river" , "(Eastern) river" , "Chinese course" , "China's main river" .)