What about a tree with some randomness thrown in? Yes, both of those things would make better looking (more realistic) trees—but I'm going to leave that to you as a homework assignment.

Now, I’ll quickly walk you through how to make a very simple tree skirt. This diagram shows the basic shape and size that you want your final tree skirt to be in.

Data viz isn’t just a modern-day craze. Designer Manuel Lima, author of The Book of Trees, discusses the origins of the tree diagram.

MS XML Notepad 2007 <BR><BR>edit: just to clarify, this is an xml file editor that has a tree view pane on the left. You can right click and expand the whole tree, or leave it collapsed.

Tree anatomy, including leaf shape and twig parts, helps you identify and name tree species. Knowing a tree's physiology will help with identification.