He left fuel around rear of house for plant (10)
I believe the answer is:
heliotrope
'plant' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.
'he left fuel around rear of house' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'port' (left side of a ship - opposite of starboard).
'fuel' becomes 'oil' (oil is a type of fuel).
'around' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'rear of' indicates one should take the final letters.
The last letter of 'house' is 'e'.
'port'+'oil'='portoil'
'portoil' back-to-front is 'liotrop'.
'he'+'liotrop'+'e'='HELIOTROPE'
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for heliotrope that I've seen before include "Plant" , "fragrant flower" , "shade of purple" .)