Herculis

[Aquagility]

1d. Nematoda that may be free or parasitic in plants (7)
?E?W??M.
In plants, so not Sea-worm. But could be Eelworm, webworm or even dew-worm.
Any ideas by which any of these could be eliminated?

[shaneystar2]

You get eelworm in spuds ...dew worm is found on the ground ..people use it as fishing bait and a web worm spins an actual web ..I think (but don't quote me ) it's a moth larvae type thingy .
I went with eel worm as have had this in potatoes I have grown.

[Argee2]

According to Chamber's a webworm is a caterpillar, a dewworm is a common earthworm, and an eelworm is the only one it describes as a nematode, so I have gone for eelworm.

[Aquagility]

Yes, I like eelworm too, shaneystar2. But webworm is a parasite of trees (are they plants?). Dew worm is two words, which should rule them out (but see 19a).

Unless anyone else comes on to rock the boat, I'll go with you and eelworm.

Cheers, Aq.

[Argee2]

Further research (!) shows that nematodes are unsegmented and worms and caterpillars are segmented, so I think this confirms eelworm. It is surprising what you learn from doing a simple crossword ;-)

[Aquagility]

You've convinced me 98%, Argee2. but if you google webworm or dew-worm together with nematode you get lots of hits!

[Argee2]

You are right, Aquagility. We will find out next Monday!!

[SecondGroom]

Nematoda is the clincher. The others are not in the same phylum even. You would get references to nematodes with webworm and dewworm The nematoda parasitise just about everything as well as having free living forms.

[masterchef]

I opted for redworm after a lot of googling.
I am probably wrong!

[Aquagility]

For the benefit of anyone who may call back, the school solution was eelworm.