The female element evident in plant collection (9)
I believe the answer is:
herbarium
'collection' is the definition.
(I know that herbarium is a type of collection)
'the female element' is the wordplay.
'the female' becomes 'her' (I've seen this in another clue).
'element' becomes 'barium' (barium is a kind of element).
'her'+'barium'='HERBARIUM'
'evident in plant' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for herbarium that I've seen before include "Where Rosemary, for one, is" , "Plant room" , "Flora preserved" .)