Plant in disintegrating climate succeeded (8)
I believe the answer is:
clematis
'plant' is the definition.
(type of plant)
'disintegrating climate succeeded' is the wordplay.
'disintegrating' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen 'disintegrated' mean this).
'succeeded' becomes 's' (genealogical abbreviation).
'climate' is an anagram of 'clemati'.
'clemati'+'s'='CLEMATIS'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for clematis that I've seen before include "Climbing plant with colourful flowers" , "Where man meets machine" , "traveller's joy" , "Does a camel sit oddly on this plant?" , "it may cover walls" .)