understory
the shrubs and plants growing beneath the main canopy of a forest.
Origin of understory
1Words Nearby understory
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use understory in a sentence
Like much of the American West, Yosemite’s forests evolved to endure periodic blazes, which cleared clutter from the understory and opened up space for new trees to grow.
Postcards from Earth’s climate futures | Aaron Steckelberg, Sarah Kaplan, Brady Dennis, Yutao Chen | February 28, 2022 | Washington PostThey decided to excavate the understory of the conflict—to figure out what it was really about–which required asking different questions and truly listening.
We Need More 'Good Conflict' in Our Lives. Here's How It Works | Amanda Ripley | April 17, 2021 | Time“There’s no understory vegetation left, let alone any leaf litter suspended in it, so that species is really hanging in the balance,” says Marsh.
A year after Australia’s wildfires, extinction threatens hundreds of species | John Pickrell | March 9, 2021 | Science NewsTrees were small in this part of the woods, with a well developed understory thicket of coralberry and sumac.
Ecological Observations on the Woodrat, Neotoma floridana | Henry S. FitchAn almost continuous canopy of foliage has developed, shading the understory and thinning it by killing shrubs and saplings.
Ecological Observations on the Woodrat, Neotoma floridana | Henry S. Fitch
Purshia tridentata (bitterbrush) is the understory codominant.
Vegetation was pinyon-juniper woodland with an understory of mixed shrubs.
A relatively pure understory of Poa fendleriana (muttongrass), is typical of such woodland on the middle parts of the mesas.
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