Heather takes off in the morning from America (5)
I believe the answer is:
erica
'heather' is the definition.
(the plant genus Erica includes heather plants)
'morning from america' is the wordplay.
'morning' becomes 'am' (as in 12:00 AM).
'from' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'america' with 'am' taken out is 'ERICA'.
'takes off in the' is the link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for erica that I've seen before include "ling" , "found on the moors" , "Woman" , "Plant of the heath genus" , "Girl's name - I care (anag)" .)