Lines by English novelist identifying vegetation (8)
I believe the answer is:
greenery
'vegetation' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'lines by english novelist' is the wordplay.
'lines' becomes 'ry' (abbreviation for railway).
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'english novelist' becomes 'greene' (I've seen this before).
'ry' put after 'greene' is 'GREENERY'.
'identifying' is the link.
(Other definitions for greenery that I've seen before include "something naturally colourful?" , "Verdure" , "Leafy vegetation" , "fresh leaves on the tree" , "colourful stuff?" .)