Crossword Genius

Girl carried past hotel plant (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hellebore

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'plant' is the definition.
The answer is an example.

'girl carried past hotel' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'girl' could be 'elle' and 'elle' is present in the answer.
'carried' could be 'bore' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'bore' is found within the answer.
'hotel' could be 'h' (phonetic alphabet) and 'h' is found 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 hellebore that I've seen before include "Flower of the lily family found in rebel hole" , "Poisonous plant" , "Winter-flowering plant" , "it comes out at Christmas" , "flowering plant" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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