understory

noun

Etymology: PIE word *(H)n̥dʰér From under- (prefix meaning ‘beneath, under’) + story (“a floor or level”).

1. A story of a building below the stories generally used for residence or work.

   “On the Vnder Story, tovvards the Garden, Let it be turned to a Grotta, or Place of Shade, or Eſtiuation.”

   “The two middle storeys of the towers are adorned with one tier of Corinthian pilasters in the style of Lord Carlisle's house at Castle Howard. The understorey is rustic.”

2. The (layer of) plants that grow in the shade of the canopy of a forest above the forest floor.

   “Throughout the pre-European tussock grassland, and more especially in gullies, on terrace edges and wherever the surface configuration of the plains was broken, woody plants occurred, including occasionally surviving residues of podocarp forest understoreys.”

   “The very tall trees and dense understorey of shrubs and ferns found in ash forests provide magnificent scenery, and afford an excellent habitat for well known wildlife species, such as lyrebirds, possums, and wallabies.”