Abstract
Summary: To estimate the tissue production of stands of large woody plants a simple morphological analysis on a sample of the plants must be attempted if a rational clipping routine is to be established. It is shown that such an analysis reveals much about the maintenance of stem structure and shape by three species of mallee Eucalyptus. The species have a branching system which can be described by the geomorphologist's law of stream numbers and their shape is explicable in terms of this system and the effects of apical dominance on new twig growth.