Plants in island thus smuggled from the east (8)
I believe the answer is:
narcissi
'plants in' is the definition.
'narcissi' can be an answer for 'plants' (I've seen this before). I am not sure about the 'in' bit.
'island thus smuggled from the east' is the wordplay.
'island' becomes 'is'.
'thus' becomes 'sic' ('sic' can be a synonym of 'thus'**).
'smuggled' becomes 'ran' (I've seen this in other clues).
'from the east' is a reversal indicator.
'is'+'sic'+'ran'='issicran'
'issicran' written backwards gives 'NARCISSI'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for narcissi that I've seen before include "Plants of a genus which includes daffodils" , "Bulbous plants with yellow or white flowers" , "Pale daffodils" , "Flowers including daffodils and jonquils" , "Scan iris for other flowers, oddly" .)