Tree expert died meaning to eat last Rolo (12)
I believe the answer is:
dendrologist
'tree expert' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'died meaning to eat last rolo' is the wordplay.
'died' becomes 'd' (abbreviation next to the year of someone's death).
'meaning' becomes 'gist' (gist is a kind of meaning).
'to eat' indicates putting letters inside.
'last' becomes 'end' (I've seen this in another clue).
'd'+'gist'='dgist'
'end'+'rolo'='endrolo'
'dgist' placed around 'endrolo' is 'DENDROLOGIST'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dendrologist that I've seen before include "Maybe plane expert" , "plant expert" .)