Rough bark perhaps covering tree (6)
I believe the answer is:
croaky
'rough' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'bark perhaps covering tree' is the wordplay.
'bark perhaps' becomes 'cry' (bark is a kind of cry).
'covering' indicates putting letters inside.
'tree' becomes 'oak' (oak is a type of tree).
'cry' enclosing 'oak' is 'CROAKY'.
(Another definition for croaky that I've seen is " Hoarse like a frog".)
I've seen this clue in The Times.
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