Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The highest layer of vegetation in a forest, usually forming the canopy.
  • noun The trees in a forest whose crowns constitute this layer.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The upper portion of a community of plants, above the understory.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

over- +‎ story

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Examples

  • I use the blind in areas with a dense overstory or areas where there are no suitable trees for climbing.

    Ground Blinds or tree stands 2009

  • In its heyday, the towering tree not only formed a critical part of the Eastern hardwood forest - researchers think it made up as much as a quarter of the woods 'overstory - but also provided inspiration to poets and novelists.

    The mighty American chestnut tree, poised for a comeback Juliet Eilperin 2010

  • In its heyday, the towering tree not only formed a critical part of the Eastern hardwood forest - researchers think it made up as much as a quarter of the woods 'overstory - but also provided inspiration to poets and novelists.

    The mighty American chestnut tree, poised for a comeback Juliet Eilperin 2010

  • In its heyday, the towering tree not only formed a critical part of the Eastern hardwood forest - researchers think it made up as much as a quarter of the woods 'overstory - but also provided inspiration to poets and novelists.

    American chestnut tree may reach former heights Juliet Eilperin 2010

  • I use the blind in areas with a dense overstory or areas where there are no suitable trees for climbing.

    Ground Blinds or tree stands 2009

  • A tough species willing to live in relic uranium mines, the public lands draft states: Populations find a mix of habitat conditions (including riparian areas and wetland ecosystems with diverse overstory and understory conditions) supporting a range of conditions for insect populations that support foraging, breeding, roosting, and hibernacula within the planning area, where the land is capable of doing so.

    Are Bats Standing In the Way of Uranium Boom? | Disinformation 2008

  • Vegetation is mostly mid and tall grasses such as seacoast bluestem, switchgrass, gulfdune paspalum, fringeleaf paspalum, sandbur, purple threeawn, pricklypear, and catclaw with an overstory of southern live oak and honey mesquite trees.

    Ecoregions of Texas (EPA) 2009

  • Post oaks and blackjack oaks have adapted to life in sandy soils and they dominate the overstory, with scattered honey mesquite and grasses, such as little bluestem and threeawn, growing beneath them.

    Ecoregions of Texas (EPA) 2009

  • As a result, black sagebrush is more prevalent in the shrub overstory of Ecoregion 13v, and the more mesic understory species that are found farther north and east are largely absent.

    Ecoregions of Nevada (EPA) 2009

  • Some overstory removal provides enough light for white fir regeneration, but also provides enough shade to prevent the regeneration of other species.

    White fir 2009

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