It's sort of white and gold inside plant (5)
I believe the answer is:
ivory
'it's sort of white' is the definition.
'gold inside plant' is the wordplay.
'gold' becomes 'or' ('or' is the heraldic name for gold).
'inside' indicates putting letters inside.
'plant' becomes 'ivy' (ivy is a kind of plant).
'or' inserted into 'ivy' is 'IVORY'.
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for ivory that I've seen before include "Substance of elephant's tusk" , "Cream" , "What may be carved" , "Substance in elephant tusks" , "Piano key" .)