Tetrapod-shaped ZnO microcrystals in forms of whiskers and microrods have been grown in the same crucible by thermal evaporation of Zn/C mixtures at a temperature of 930℃ in air without using any catalyst.The tetrapod-shaped ZnO microrods were capped by hexagonal pyramids.It is for the first time observed that the tetrapod-shaped ZnO whiskers and microrods have quite different morphologies, and this is believed to be a result of different growth behaviors associated with these two forms of ZnO microcrystals.The octa-twin model has been used to discuss their growth behaviors.Photoluminescence properties of these two forms of tetrapod-shaped ZnO microcrystals have been investigated using different excitation wavelengths.Both of the two forms of ZnO microcrystals showed strong green emission and weak ultraviolet emission behaviors.The excitation spectrum of the tetrapod-shaped ZnO whiskers showed a strong excitation peak at 395 nm, which was not observed for the tetrapod-shaped ZnO microrods.