Crossword Genius

Pervasive plant ever spreading (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

prevalent

'pervasive' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'plant ever spreading' is the wordplay.
'spreading' indicates anagramming the letters.
'plant'+'ever'='plantever'
'plantever' anagrammed gives 'PREVALENT'.

(Other definitions for prevalent that I've seen before include "Widely accepted" , "general" , "Ruling" , "Widespread - current" , "powerful" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app