Ok, so the shape is not really a part. Still, it is a distinguishing feature of a tree and another way to help in its identification.

Naturalist Roger Tory Peterson says that unlike the precise silhouette of birds, a tree is not so consistent in form or shape. "The beginner, learning his trees, yearns for a book that will give him shapes and field marks by which he can make snap identification. But it isn't that easy...within limits one can with practice, recognize by shape and manner of growth quite a few trees".

Click on the illustration for a better look (USFS-TAMU clip art).

A yellow-poplar will always look like a yellow-poplar in a very general sense. However, a young tree may look entirely different from the parent tree. A forest grown tree may grow tall and slender while his field-grown cousin develops a maximum crown in the open sun.

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