Hackneyed description of some botanic lichens (6)
I believe the answer is:
cliche
'hackneyed' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'some botanic lichens' is the wordplay.
'some' indicates a hidden word (some parts of the word are used).
'CLICHE' is hidden within 'botanic lichens'.
'description of' is the link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cliche that I've seen before include "Saying repeated too often" , "Truth uttered so often as to become boring" , "Trite or obvious remark" , "Nothing new in that, so to speak" , "saw, perhaps, used too much" .)