Abstract: We present a novel approach to efficiently modelling branch structures with high-quality meshes. Our approach has the following advantages. First, the limit surface can fit the target skeleton models as tightly as possible by reversely calculating the control vertices of subdivision surfaces. Second, high performance is achieved through our proposed analytical solutions and the parallel subdivision scheme on a graphics processing unit. Third, a smooth manifold quad-only mesh is produced from the adopted Catmull–Clark scheme. A number of examples are given to demonstrate applications of our approach in various branch structures, such as tree branches, animal torsos, and vasculatures. Copyright 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.