Has life in Cairns destroyed flowers? (8)
I believe the answer is:
narcissi
'flowers?' is the definition.
(plural of narcissus)
'has life in cairns destroyed' is the wordplay.
'has life' becomes 'is' ('be' can be a synonym of 'have life').
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'destroyed' indicates anagramming the letters.
'cairns' is an anagram of 'narcsi'.
'is' placed within 'narcsi' is 'NARCISSI'.
(Other definitions for narcissi that I've seen before include "Flowers named after Greek youth in love with his own appearance" , "Flowers related to the daffodil" , "Scan iris for the spring flowers" , "Two-toned daffodils" , "Plants that include the daffodil" .)