Crossword Genius

Mother feeding deadheaded plant raises quality of Narcissus (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

egomania

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'narcissus' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'mother feeding deadheaded plant raises quality of' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'mother' could be 'ma' (ma can mean mother) and 'ma' is found in the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for egomania that I've seen before include "Obsessive self-concern" , "Obsessive love of oneself" , "Abnormally excessive opinion of oneself, quite mad" , "Excessive self-centredness" , "Thing about me" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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