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Opens out old ends of petals (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

expands

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'opens out' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to change as well as being verbs in their -s form.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'old ends of petals' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime).
'ends of petals' becomes 'pands' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ex'+'pands'='EXPANDS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for expands that I've seen before include "Becomes larger" , "gets bigger" , "Enlarges" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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