Snake one absent-minded Italian lost in plant (10)
I believe the answer is:
aspidistra
'plant' is the definition.
(aspidistra is a kind of plant)
'snake one absent-minded italian lost' is the wordplay.
'snake' becomes 'asp' (asp is a kind of snake).
'one' becomes 'i' (roman numeral).
'absent-minded' becomes 'distrait' (I've seen this before).
'italian' becomes 'it' (abbreviation for Italian).
'lost' suggests deleting specific letters.
'distrait' with 'it' taken away is 'distra'.
'asp'+'i'+'distra'='ASPIDISTRA'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for aspidistra that I've seen before include "something normally developed in-house?" , "Iris adapts (anag) - indoor plant" , "Household growth" , "Houseplant of lily family" , "Large houseplant" .)