advantage of plants

For plants adapted to sun & shade habitats they acclimate to shade growth in a different manner than full sun growth:
The larger the actual area the plant can cover the more sunlight they are potentially exposed to. They do this to compensate for lower photon density (less sunlight). Shade tolerant plants growing in light filtered through canopy foliage receive less of the visible spectrum they need for high photosynthetic rates. In response they grow longer stems and invest the same amount in leaves as the same plant grown in more sunlight but grow larger, thinner leaves to cover more area.