Does anyone know why my tree is not smooth in this final image? I did it at full 100% resolution and did 100 samples. It took 3 1/2 hours to complete. I did not notice the problem in the earlier lower resolution picture. But this version clearly shows a segmented trunk with the underlying geometry showing sharp edges and not smooth. I had set the image to Smooth not Flat in the tools shelf and I had placed a subdivision surface modifier on the tree. But clearly in the picture the tree trunk is not smooth and seems to not have the modifiers applied.
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Try Smooth Shading on the tree (Select the object and click on the Tools bar menu). Great job btw!
Thanks for the reply. I did put on smooth shading. Well. I thought I did. So, I will go back and check.
Hi. I Know it’s been six months but I’m still curious. Did you find an answer or was it just Blender getting confused with all the maths?
You know, I haven’t worked on that in a long while and I just went back to take another look. The answer to your question is, “I don’t know what is wrong with the tree.” It still shows the sides of the cylinder clearly and even with smoothing on it doesn’t look smooth. I even tried adding a subdivision subsurf without any effect. I used an old tree that I made and probably should go back and redo the tree keeping an eye out for this smoothing issue. Thank you for comment and viewing my bunny.
Hmm. Have you remembered to convert the sapling curve into a mesh? You probably have… It’s just that it happened to me once that I had assigned all the materials and everything before I remembered to do that.
Anyway, it could be just Blender being confused, and your scene is really nice and warm looking even with the blocky tree. 
Thanks for the reply!