Crossword Genius

Like climbing plant barely covering study (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

scandent

'like climbing plant' is the definition.
(term describing a climbing plant)

'barely covering study' is the wordplay.
'barely' becomes 'scant'.
'covering' is an insertion indicator.
'study' becomes 'den' (I've seen this before).
'scant' going around 'den' is 'SCANDENT'.

(Another definition for scandent that I've seen is " Naturally climbing".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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