Plant for a sycophant (7)
I believe the answer is:
creeper
'plant' is the definition.
(I know that creeper is a type of tracheophyte)
'sycophant' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'sycophant' could be 'creep' (I've seen this before) and 'creep' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'er' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'for a' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for creeper that I've seen before include "Reptile" , "Climbing-plant" , "Plant growing along the ground" , "Ivy or Virginia, for example" , "Rambler" .)