Tree Diagram
Chart overview
Tree diagrams (dendrograms) display hierarchical relationships through branching structures.
Key points
- They are essential for showing organizational hierarchies, phylogenetic trees, clustering results, and any data with parent-child relationships.
Example Visualization

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"Create a dendrogram (tree diagram) showing 'Hierarchical Clustering of Animal Species' based on genetic similarity. Generate a distance matrix for 12 species: Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Domestic Cat (felines cluster), Wolf, Dog, Fox (canines cluster), Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Black Bear (ursids cluster), Elephant, Rhino, Hippo (large mammals). Use Ward's linkage method. Color branches by major taxonomic cluster (felines: orange, canines: blue, ursids: brown, large mammals: gray). Draw a horizontal cut-off line at distance threshold showing 4 main clusters. Add species labels at leaf nodes. Include a scale bar for genetic distance. Annotate cluster nodes with bootstrap confidence values. Title: 'Phylogenetic Tree - Mammalian Species Clustering'."
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Python Code Example
# === IMPORTS ===
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from scipy.cluster.hierarchy import dendrogram, linkage
import matplotlib.patheffects as pe
from matplotlib.patches import Rectangle
# === USER-EDITABLE PARAMETERS ===
title = "Phylogenetic Tree — Mammalian Species Clustering"
figsize = (14, 10)
# === EXAMPLE DATASET ===
np.random.seed(42)
# Species grouped by evolutionary proximity
species = [
# Felines
'Lion', 'Tiger', 'Leopard', 'Domestic Cat',
# Canines
'Wolf', 'Dog', 'Fox',
# Ursids
'Brown Bear', 'Polar Bear', 'Black Bear',
# Large Herbivores
'Elephant', 'Rhino', 'Hippo'
]
# Create feature matrix simulating genetic distances
n_species = len(species)
features = np.zeros((n_species, 8))
# Felines (0-3) - close genetic features
features[0:4, 0:2] = np.random.normal(10, 0.5, (4, 2))
features[0:4, 2] = np.random.normal(5, 0.3, 4)
# Canines (4-6)
features[4:7, 2:4] = np.random.normal(8, 0.5, (3, 2))
features[4:7, 4] = np.random.normal(6, 0.3, 3)
# Ursids (7-9)
features[7:10, 4:6] = np.random.normal(7, 0.5, (3, 2))
features[7:10, 6] = np.random.normal(4, 0.3, 3)
# Large Herbivores (10-12)
features[10:13, 6:8] = np.random.normal(9, 0.5, (3, 2))
# Add noise
features += np.random.normal(0, 0.2, features.shape)
# Calculate linkage
Z = linkage(features, method='ward')
# Print summary
print("=== Phylogenetic Analysis ===")
print(f"\nSpecies: {n_species}")
print(f"\nExpected clusters:")
print(f" Felines: Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Domestic Cat")
print(f" Canines: Wolf, Dog, Fox")
print(f" Ursids: Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Black Bear")
print(f" Large Herbivores: Elephant, Rhino, Hippo")
# === CREATE DENDROGRAM ===
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=figsize, facecolor='#0d1117')
ax.set_facecolor('#0d1117')
# Custom colors for clusters
cluster_colors = ['#FF6B6B', '#4ECDC4', '#45B7D1', '#96CEB4']
color_threshold = 6
# Create dendrogram with custom styling
dendro = dendrogram(
Z,
labels=species,
leaf_rotation=45,
leaf_font_size=12,
color_threshold=color_threshold,
above_threshold_color='#636e72',
ax=ax
)
# Color the dendrogram lines
for i, d in zip(dendro['icoord'], dendro['dcoord']):
x = 0.5 * sum(i[1:3])
y = d[1]
# Style leaf labels
for label in ax.get_xticklabels():
label.set_color('white')
label.set_fontweight('bold')
label.set_fontsize(11)
# Add horizontal threshold line
ax.axhline(y=color_threshold, color='#FFD93D', linestyle='--', linewidth=2,
alpha=0.8, label=f'Cluster threshold (d={color_threshold})')
# Add cluster annotations with boxes
cluster_info = [
(1.5, -1.5, 'Felines', '#FF6B6B'),
(5.5, -1.5, 'Canines', '#4ECDC4'),
(8.5, -1.5, 'Ursids', '#45B7D1'),
(11.5, -1.5, 'Large Herbivores', '#96CEB4')
]
for x, y, label, color in cluster_info:
ax.annotate(label, xy=(x * 10, y), fontsize=11, fontweight='bold',
color=color, ha='center', va='top',
bbox=dict(boxstyle='round,pad=0.3', facecolor='#161b22',
edgecolor=color, linewidth=2))
# Styling
ax.set_xlabel('Species', fontsize=14, color='#e6edf3', fontweight='bold', labelpad=50)
ax.set_ylabel('Genetic Distance', fontsize=14, color='#e6edf3', fontweight='bold')
ax.set_title(title, fontsize=22, fontweight='bold', color='white', pad=20,
path_effects=[pe.withStroke(linewidth=3, foreground='#238636')])
# Style axes
ax.tick_params(colors='#e6edf3', labelsize=10)
ax.spines['bottom'].set_color('#30363d')
ax.spines['left'].set_color('#30363d')
ax.spines['top'].set_visible(False)
ax.spines['right'].set_visible(False)
# Grid
ax.grid(True, alpha=0.1, color='white', axis='y')
ax.set_axisbelow(True)
# Legend
legend = ax.legend(loc='upper right', facecolor='#161b22', edgecolor='#30363d',
labelcolor='white', fontsize=11)
# Info box
info_text = f'Clustering: Ward\'s method | Species: {n_species}'
ax.text(0.02, 0.98, info_text, transform=ax.transAxes, fontsize=10,
color='#888', ha='left', va='top',
bbox=dict(boxstyle='round', facecolor='#161b22', alpha=0.8, edgecolor='#30363d'))
plt.tight_layout()
plt.savefig('chart.png', dpi=150, bbox_inches='tight', facecolor='#0d1117')
print("Saved: chart.png")
plt.show()
# END-OF-CODE
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Console Output
=== Phylogenetic Analysis === Species: 13 Expected clusters: Felines: Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Domestic Cat Canines: Wolf, Dog, Fox Ursids: Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Black Bear Large Herbivores: Elephant, Rhino, Hippo Saved: chart.png
Common Use Cases
- 1Hierarchical clustering visualization
- 2Phylogenetic trees
- 3Organizational charts
- 4Decision tree visualization
Pro Tips
Color-code branches by cluster
Truncate for large hierarchies
Add distance/height labels
Scientific Chart Selection Cheat Sheet
Not sure whether to use a Violin Plot, Box Plot, or Ridge Plot? Download our single-page reference mapping the most-used scientific chart types, exactly when to use them, and the core Matplotlib/Seaborn functions.