Blooms in spring, in a manner of speaking, briefly (4)
I believe the answer is:
iris
'blooms in spring' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for iris that I've seen before include "--- Murdoch, author" , "Woman" , "Goddess of the rainbow in the eye" , "Flower - rainbow" , "Greek goddess of the rainbow" .)