Flowering shrub the rain so damaged (9)
I believe the answer is:
hortensia
'flowering shrub' is the definition.
'the rain so damaged' is the wordplay.
'damaged' indicates anagramming the letters.
'the'+'rain'+'so'='therainso'
'therainso' with letters rearranged gives 'HORTENSIA'.
(Another definition for hortensia that I've seen is " a shrub".)
I've seen this clue in The Times.
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