Contaminate spot surrounding golden plant (8)
I believe the answer is:
marjoram
'plant' is the definition.
'contaminate spot surrounding golden' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'golden' could be 'or' and 'or' is present in the answer.
'spot' could be 'jam' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'jam' is located in the remaining letters.
The remaining letters 'mar' 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 marjoram that I've seen before include "Aromatic plant used for seasoning food" , "Herb, maybe oregano" , "pot plant" , "Herb used in soups, stews etc" , "Culinary herb" .)