Understory
Etymology
A modern compound of "under" and "story" (in the sense of a building’s floor or level). It borrows the architecture of a house to describe the layered structure of a forest.
noun · /UN-der-STOR-ee/
The layer of vegetation growing beneath the forest canopy and above the ground.
What it names
A specific forest stratum — the shaded middle world between treetops and forest floor — vital to biodiversity.
Example
Ferns and saplings crowded the understory, starved for the light above.
Related idea
The canopy is the sunlit roof of the forest; the understory is everything living in its shade.