The tree comes chopped off straight across the top like a hedge due to them having to make it fit in a box. The box is shorter than 6 feet, so the height is wrong and mis-leading. It does not appear as the picture looks at all. I got two and they are stick straight up and down as well, nothing bows out like a regular birch tree. I am going to cut some branches and take it out of it's pot and re-do the whole thing somehow. I bought this tree at Marshall Fields in Chicago 14 years ago and it was great. This one is not great at all.