Just over three feet in length, European species that bears fruit (4,4)

I believe the answer is:

lime tree

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'species that bears fruit' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.

'just over three feet in length european' is the wordplay.
'just over three feet in' becomes 'li' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'length' becomes 'metre' (I've seen this before).
'european' becomes 'E' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'li'+'metre'+'e'='LIME-TREE'

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I've seen this clue in The Times.

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