In Caribbean island, leading actress ran around palm tree (8)
I believe the answer is:
carnauba
'palm tree' is the definition.
(carnauba is a kind of palm tree)
'in caribbean island leading actress ran around' is the wordplay.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'caribbean island' becomes 'cuba' (I've seen this in another clue).
'leading' suggests taking the first letters.
'around' indicates anagramming the letters.
The first letter of 'actress' is 'a'.
'a'+'ran'='aran'
'aran' with letters rearranged gives 'arna'.
'cuba' placed around 'arna' is 'CARNAUBA'.
(Other definitions for carnauba that I've seen before include "Brazilian tree or its wax" , "Wax from a Brazilian palm" , "Yellowish wax" .)