PbS dendritic crystals with different morphologies have been successfully prepared via a solvothermal process. TEM observations show that the as-prepared PbS dendrites exhibit cross-like morphology for primary arms and fishbone shape for secondary arms. The reactive precursors and solvents have much influence on the growth behavior of PbS dendrites. The possible growth mechanisms are briefly discussed, while the orthogonal growth of PbS dendrites are assigned to < 1 0 0> directions. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.