Lanthanide doped ZnO mushroom-like 3D hierarchical structures have been fabricated by polyol-mediated method and characterized by various microstructural and optical techniques. The results indicate that the as-prepared ZnO:Ln(3+) (Ln = Tb, Eu) samples have a hexagonal phase structure and possess a mushroom-like 3D hierarchical morphology. The length of the whole mushroom from stipe bottom to pileus top is about 1.0 μm, and the diameters of pileus and stipe are about 0.8 μm and 0.4 μm, respectively. It is found that the flow of N2 is the key parameter for the formation of the novel ZnO structure and the addition of (NH4)2HPO4 has a prominent effect on the phase structure and the growth of mushroom-like morphology. The potential mechanism of forming this morphology is proposed. The pileus of the formed mushroom is assembled by several radial ZnO:Ln(3+) nanorods, whereas the stipe is composed of over layered ZnO:Ln(3+) nanosheets. Moreover, asymmetrical I-V characteristic curves of ZnO:Ln(3+) mushrooms indicate that the texture composition of the 3D hierarchical morphology might lead to the asymmetrical transport behavior of electrical conductivity. Lanthanide doped ZnO samples can exhibit red or green emission under the excitation of UV light.