A vocabulary of landscape — a landscape of words
1467 entries
canopy
The uppermost layer of a forest, formed by the crowns of the tallest trees. It determines how much light, rain, and wind reach the forest floor. In a closed canopy, the branches interlock and the understory lives in permanent shade. In an open canopy, light reaches the ground and a different community of plants thrives.
Etymology
From Latin canopeum, a covering, from Greek kōnōpeion, a couch with mosquito curtains. It was originally an architectural term for a cloth covering and later applied to forests by analogy.