Flower in middle of clump eaten by reptiles (6)
I believe the answer is:
crocus
'flower' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'middle of clump eaten by reptiles' is the wordplay.
'middle of' says to take the centre.
'eaten' indicates putting letters inside.
'by reptiles' becomes 'crocs' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The centre of 'clump' is 'u'.
'u' placed inside 'crocs' is 'CROCUS'.
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for crocus that I've seen before include "it's ready for spring" , "'Spring flower, source of saffron (6)'" , "Spring plant" , "Spring-flowering plant" , "Spring bulb" .)