Apart from housing a large number of plants that have an enormous capacity to withstand shade, undergrowths are also places where many animals live. The plants in these places are usually short, even though they are already many years old and these are usually small trees, vines and also flowers.
Features
This causes the plants that inhabit the understory, have to optimize the capacity to generate the photosynthesissince they do not have the amount of light necessary for this task.
Another important fact about the understory is that the ground slowly heats up and in this way evaporation slows down.
Species or types
The heliconia
This is a plant that can be found in the tropical understory of Americajust like it is found in the South Pacific.
It has leaves very similar to those of the banana tree and it has bright inflorescences, quite long flowering, with some showy bracts and some true flowers in its internal part.
Helicones usually grow in the understory of humid tropical climate as well as along rivers. Its growth is quite fast and they do very well in fertile soils.
They are propagated through the rhizomes and they can grow very well in hot and shady areas. When the weather is dry or cold, this plant stops its growthretaking it when the temperatures are warm and humid.
The cacao tree
This is a small tree that lives in the understory, grows in shady places and in the foliage that are very dense and can reach a measure of up to 15,2 meters in height.
The cacao tree is found in the areas of the tropical forest in America, and the natural habitat of the same, are each one of the banks of the Amazon basins.
This is a plant that supports fairly dense shade and requires high humidity so that its growth takes place in optimal conditions. The leaves of this plant are deciduous, bright green and oblong in shape.
When the leaves are continuously shaded, They are usually longer compared to those that receive a greater amount of light.
These trees have a preference for soils with a lot of drainage and a slightly acid composition, and they can grow much better in areas that have humid shade. The fruit that this tree produces is used as raw material to make chocolate.
Chinese witch hazel
Usually this is a fairly large bushbut it also has a shape that is particularly arborescent.
Chinese witch hazel, produces flowers that are yellow in the months of February and March, it has an extension of the same measure as its height and has a rounded shape.
It is a plant that has preference for acid soils as with many nutrients, it is highly resistant to most diseases and pests.
Moreover, witch hazel from japanis another of the shrubs that are large and is also considered to be part of one of the varieties of small trees of Chinese witch hazel.
It is cultivated very frequently as an ornamental plant as well as as a sample plant.
