Crossword Genius

Place for Jacob's ladder, not hotel plant (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

betel

'plant' is the definition.
The answer is an example.

'place for jacob's ladder not hotel' is the wordplay.
'place for jacob's ladder' becomes 'bethel' (where Jacob dreamt of a ladder in the Bible).
'not' suggests deleting specific letters.
'hotel' becomes 'h' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'bethel' with 'h' taken out is 'BETEL'.

(Other definitions for betel that I've seen before include "leaves to chew" , "stimulatingly chewed in Asia" , "Dried leaf of a plant chewed in Asia as a mild stimulant" , "Asian tree, whose nuts and leaves are chewed as a narcotic" , "Something stimulating" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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