understory

noun

1. (US, also, dated, figuratively)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.”

   “Elgin has vvhat in England are called piazzas, that run in many places on each ſide of the ſtreet. […] I approved much of ſuch ſtructures in a tovvn, on account of their conveniency in vvet vveather. Dr. Johnſon diſapproved of them, "becauſe (ſaid he) it makes the under ſtory of a houſe very dark, vvhich greatly over-balances the conveniency, vvhen it is conſidered hovv ſmall a part of the year it rains;[…]"”

   “Q. VVhat did you find? / A. I found in a cloſet in the under ſtorey of VVatt's houſe a dozen of ſpears.”

   “The banqueting-house is a very striking and beautiful building in the form of a cross, open every way, and supported by a multitude of pillars and arches, erected on an under-story of an octagonal form.”

2. (US, also, attributive)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.”

   “In order to further narrow down the field of formation types reference is now made to the type of understorey that is found beneath the crowns or canopies of the dominant plants.”

   “The understory was mainly composed of regeneration of the more shade-tolerant species and a variety of common shrubs, such as buckleberries (Vaccinium spp.) and hawthorns (Crataegus spp.).”

   “This species is found in both maritime and continental climates. It is a dominant component of understorys of various Pacific northwest and western boreal forests, often forming dense, nearly impenetrable pure thickets, but also occurring in some understorys with other shrubs and (or) herbaceous plants.”