The Understory

This area gets only 2-5% of the sunlight available to the canopy. This limited light encourages the plant residents to devise unique ways to survive, such as the solar-collecting dark green leaves. Plants that survive in the understory include dwarf palms and soft-stalked species of families, such as the ginger family, acanthus and prayer plant or Maranta. These plants seldom grow to more than 12 feet (3.5 m) in height. Understory plants have a more difficult time with pollination because of the lack of air movement. Most rely on insects. Some produce strong smelling flowers, others produce flowers and fruit on their trunks. This phenomenon, known as cauliflory, makes them more conspicuous to aid the process of pollination and seed dispersal. Many animals live here, including snakes, frogs, parakeets, leopards, jaguars and the largest concentration of insects.

Below the canopy we find the understory. This level is comprised of vines, smaller trees, ferns and palms. Beneath them are even smaller bushes and many kinds of ferns. This part of the forest also remains green all year round. A large number of plants from this level make up common house plants. Because this level receives very little direct sunlight or rainfall, they adapt easily to home conditions and are preadapted to severe conditions of shade and low humidity. Among these plants are anthurium,caladium, colocasia, philodendron and garden callas.

These plants also have had to adapt to poor soil with few nutrients. They have developed features that help them to survive. For example, not producing flowers helps to conserve energy, and broad leaves allow the plants to take in as much light as possible. Remaining green year round helps with food production.

Effective use of water is a major problem for plants where rainfall ranges between 80 and 320 inches a year. That amount of water can cause plant rot, growth of mold and decay. To get rid of the excess water, many rainforest plants have slick, water repellant coatings on their leaves, shapes that allow rain to run off easily and spout-like "drip tips" that help drain water from the surface of the leaf.

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