Undershrubs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Low-growing woody plants that are smaller than trees and have several stems rising from the base near the ground
2. Small perennial woody plants, typically branching close to the soil, that stand well below the height of a tree
3. Short, bushy plants with woody stems that grow low to the ground and are generally shorter than trees

Etymology: "Undershrubs" is the plural of "undershrub," a plant that is woody at its base but stays low, usually well under the height of a true shrub's surrounding canopy. The word is a simple compound: "under-" in the sense of "lesser" or "below the standard size," joined to "shrub," the older English word for a woody bush. The prefix here does not mean beneath anything physically; it marks a plant that falls short of the shrub category, much as an undergraduate is a student who has not yet reached the rank of graduate.

Synonyms: subshrub

Antonyms: tree