Crossword Genius

White stone flower made in an experiment? (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

alabaster

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'white stone' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'flower made in an experiment?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'flower' could be 'aster' (type of flower) and 'aster' is located in the answer.
'an' could be 'a' and 'a' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'lab' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for alabaster that I've seen before include "Stab a real odd white mineral" , "Sort of gypsum" , "Type of gypsum" , "Arabs tale (anag.)" , "Altar base (anagr.)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sunday Times and The Times.
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