Abstract: We present a lobe-based tree representation for modeling trees.The new representation is based on the observation that the tree's foliage details can be Abstracted into canonical geometry structures,termed lobe-textures.We introduce techniques to 1) approximate the geometry of given tree data and encode it into a lobe-based representation,2) decode the representation and synthesize a fully detailed tree model that visually resembles the input.The encoded tree serves as a light intermediate representation,which facilitates efficient storage and transmission of massive amounts of trees,e.g.,from a server to clients for interactive applications in urban environments.