In the present paper, large-area, homogeneously distributed lying dendritic silver nanostructures were prepared on a Pt film substrate using a square-wave electrodeposition technique without any additive. Individual dendrites were found to lie on the substrate and have a three-dimensional structure. The number density increases with electrolyte concentration (C) and loose films composed of overlapping dendrites were obtained at high C. The square-wave potential and its frequency determine the formation of the dendritic structure. The Ag dendrites exhibit high surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity towards rhodamine B. The SERS activity of the dendrites is comparable to that of Ag films consisting of overlapping dendrites. It is much higher than that of Ag nanoparticles (NPs), and even higher than that of NPs' aggregates. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.