Flower is almost characteristic of Ireland (4)
I believe the answer is:
iris
'flower' is the definition.
(iris is a type of flower)
'is almost characteristic of ireland' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'is' is present in the answer.
'ireland' could be 'ir' (abbreviation for Ireland) and 'ir' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for iris that I've seen before include "Garden flower - part of eye" , "is 21[WOMAN], perhaps" , "bloomer?" , "Lily" , "Plant - part of the eye" .)