Abstract: The complex morphology and enormous mesh data of 3D tree model make it very difficult to render the detailed tree model quickly.A major proportion of data in 3D tree model is the information of leaves.In order to reduce the amount of data for 3D tree model,this paper proposes a divide and conquer method of leaves simplification for preserving visual perception.This method combines the similarity of texture color with geometric shape of leaves for the selection and merging of similar leaves.Then it uses a divide and conquer method based on the topology of branches or spatial distribution of leaves to partition the leaves simplification regions,as well as speed up the process of merging leaves to realize the 3D tree models simplification for preserving visual perception characteristics.Experimental results show that this method can effectively decrease the amount of geometric data of tree models,improve the rendering efficiency,and be applied to realistic fast rendering of the close-range trees.