What Is a Tree Crown?

by Sean Russell
Codominant tree crowns share access to the sun.

Codominant tree crowns share access to the sun.

The tree crown is the top part of the tree, which features branches that grow out from the main trunk and support the various leaves used for photosynthesis. While all trees feature a crown, several types of crowns adorn different types of trees. Thus, tree crowns are adapted to fit the role they play in the wild.


A dominant tree crown reaches over all other plants in the forest, including the crowns of other trees. This crown helps the tree catch the more direct sunlight than any other crown by pushing its branches and leaves not only upward but also outward, ensuring that as many leaves as possible have access to direct sunlight. Trees with a dominant tree crown feature a strong central trunk and a pyramid-shaped crown with branches that grow outward rather than upward. Trees such as the Northern red oak (Quercus rubra), which lives in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 4 through 9, and the mountain white gum (Eucalyptus dalrympleana), which lives within USDA zones 8 through 10, feature these dominant crown traits.


A crown that is codominant shares access to sunlight with another tree. Slightly smaller in size than the dominant crown, the codominant tree crown receives sunlight at only the tips of its upper branches. Because of this, the tree does not grow to its full potential. This means that species with dominant crown traits are the same trees as those that are codominant; it is only circumstances that force them to share dominance in their region with other trees. Codominant tree crowns also make up part of a forest canopy, filling in smaller areas between large dominant crowns.


The last type of tree that receives any portion of direct sunlight features an intermediate tree crown. This crown grows only about as tall as the lower ceiling of the forest canopy, below the codominant tree crowns. An intermediate crown is shorter and often features leaves with a reduced surface area. The thinned-out leaf placement helps the tree take advantage of small holes in the canopy, ensuring that greenery is only supported in areas that receive sunlight. One example of an intermediate crowned tree is the Japanese stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia), which lives within USDA hardiness zones 5 through 8.


Receiving no direct sunlight in wooded areas, overtopped trees develop small crowns and are often lusher on one side or the other, surviving best where indirect sunlight is more present. Overtopped tree crowns feature sparse leaf presence and often a short stature. While many of these trees can thrive and even grow large in full sun, they are also adapted to live in full shade and, as a result, grow more slowly. The Canada hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), which grows within USDA hardiness zones 4 through 8, is an example of one of these shade-tolerant trees.

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