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E. nitens plantation, NW Tasmania. As the crowns of the trees grow and progressively shade out the lower branches, there is insufficient light to support photosynthesis and so the leaves die leaving the dead branches. In some species these dead branches fall off naturally, but to obtain high quality knot free wood in sawn and veneer products, manual pruning is often progressively undertaken in three "lifts" each about 2 m before the branches die on the lower 6 m of the trunk.