Crossword Genius

Issue surrounding variety of lilac bulb (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

scallion

'bulb' is the definition.
(I know that scallion is a type of onion)

'issue surrounding variety of lilac' is the wordplay.
'issue' becomes 'son' (issue can mean someone's offspring).
'surrounding' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'variety of' indicates an anagram.
'lilac' is an anagram of 'calli'.
'son' placed around 'calli' is 'SCALLION'.

(Other definitions for scallion that I've seen before include "Green onion" , "sort of onion" , "A spring onion with long neck" , "Spring 12" , "Vegetable" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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